The Chancellor has announced additional support to help businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector that have been forced to close. £4.6 billion has been made available to the hardest hit businesses in the form of a new lockdown grant – a one-off cash grant of up to £9,000 per business premises.
The funding is expected to benefit over 600,000 business properties across the UK, and is allocated as follows:
- £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
Local Councils will be given an additional £594 million discretionary fund to support other businesses not eligible for the grants but that are affected by the restrictions. Those businesses should apply direct to their Local Authority.
Additional support measures
This comes on top of the existing support measures currently in place:
- Extension of the furlough scheme to 30 April 2021 (for more details, see earlier blog)
- Deadline to apply for government-backed loans extended to 31 March 2021 (for more details, see earlier blog)
- 100% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses
- Local Restriction Support Grants of up to £3,000 a month (find details of how to apply to your Local Council here)
How can we help?
We expect the next phase of the Covid-19 economic support to be formally announced as part of the Budget on 3 March 2021. In the meantime, if you have new business concerns following the latest updates, or would like help navigating the support you can access, contact your usual relationship practitioner, email intouch@haroldsharp.co.uk or call us on 0161 905 1616.