Additional funds made available for small businesses

05 May 2020

Additional funds have been made available to provide support for businesses that previously fell outside the scope of the business grant funds scheme.

£617 million has been set aside on top of the £12.33 billion which has already been provided for the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund.

This additional funding is aimed to support small businesses with on-going fixed property related costs, with priority being given to businesses in shared spaces, regular market traders and small charity properties that would meet the criteria for small business rates relief.

Although this new funding does not appear to be aimed at HGV or PSV operators, the allocation of the funding will be at the discretion of local authorities and they may choose to make payments to any other small business based on the needs of the local economy.

Grants will be up to a maximum of £25,000 and in order to be eligible for a grant, businesses must have less than 50 employees and be able to demonstrate that they have suffered significantly reduced profits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clearly operators are not the main target for this funding, but there is a discretionary element that local authorities can exercise, so if you have not received any other grant from your local authority, this could be raised.

Contact Backhouse Jones on 01254 828300 for further guidance, as we are offering a specific product to help operators access financial support during the coronavirus outbreak.