Businesses forced to close during lockdown will soon be able to apply for a new one-off grant from a £4.6 billion support package announced by the Government this week.
The Chancellor announced those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors could receive up to £9,000 to help support businesses and jobs through to the Spring.
These top-up grants are provided on a per-property basis and are additional to existing business support grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses and up to £2,100 for impacted business.
The Treasury says any business “legally required to close, and which cannot operate effectively remotely”, is eligible. It expects the new grants will support more than 600,000 business.
Businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under can claim a grant of £4,000. Those with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 are eligible to receive £6,000 and businesses with a rateable value of more than £51,000 will receive £9,000. Government eligibility details.
Additional discretionary funding has also been announced - on top of the £1.1 billion existing discretionary grant funding for local authorities – to support other businesses not eligible for the new top-up grants.
Since the announcement was made on Tuesday it has been confirmed the “additional funding” for the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales had already been allocated to the respective governments and was not new money.
Local authorities are still waiting to receive guidance on the latest announcement from the Government. Businesses should look out for updates from their local councils on how to apply for the top-up grants as well as discretionary grant funding.
For more information about additional business support measures available to your business, please contact Glenn on 01768 222030 or email glenn.clifford-perkins@armstrongwatson.co.uk.
