Ministers have recently announced new funding to support businesses impacted by Covid 19.
Businesses in England required to close due to local lockdowns or targeted restrictions will now be able to receive grants worth up to £1,500 every three weeks. These grants provide businesses with a safety net as they temporarily close their doors to help save lives in their local areas.
As local economies eventually and carefully re-open after local interventions, the Plan for Jobs is there waiting to help businesses get back on their feet, protect jobs and thrive in the future. Though a lot of firms have now been able to re-open, thousands are still impacted by local lockdowns and the chance that there will be more in the future.
This targeted support is in addition to business eligibility for the government’s existing schemes of support to businesses which remain available to impacted companies. This includes CBILS, government backed loans and business grants worth up to £25,000 per property.
To be eligible for the grant, a business must have been required to close due to local COVID-19 restrictions. The largest businesses will receive £1,500 every 3 weeks and smaller businesses will receive £1,000. Payments are triggered by a national decision to close businesses in a high incidence area. Each payment will be made for a 3 weeks lockdown period.
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- any businesses still closed at a national level (e.g. nightclubs), will not be eligible
- if a business occupies a premises with a rateable value less than £51,000 or occupies a property or part of a property subject to an annual rent or mortgage payment of less than £51,000, it will receive £1000
- if a business occupies a premises with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or above or occupies a property or part of a property subject to an annual rent or mortgage payment of exactly £51,000 or above, it will receive £1500
- Local authorities will also receive an additional 5% top up amount of business support funding to enable them to help other businesses affected by closures which may not be on the business rates list. Payments made to businesses from this discretionary fund can be any amount up to £1500, and may be less than £1000 in some cases.
- Local authorities will be responsible for distributing the grants to businesses in circumstances where they are closed due to local interventions
- further eligibility criteria may be determined by Local authorities
- as with other Covid business grants, local grants to closed businesses will be treated as taxable income
- The UK Government has guaranteed that the devolved administrations will receive at least £12.7 billion on top of their March Budget settlements to help them with their response to Covid-19 this year, with £6.5 billion for the Scottish Government, £4.0 billion for the Welsh Government and £2.2 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive. The Barnett formula will apply in the usual way to any additional funding provided to departments in relation to this intervention.
Both the government and banks will need all of your paperwork to be up to date and in order to consider you for any loans or grants. Make sure that you have sent everything in to us, in order and on time so that we can assist you with the best deals. Contact us today for further information on this grant on 02085300720 or email businessdevelopment@nordens.co.uk
