You should be taking this for granted
The government have announced two grant schemes to help small businesses and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Qualifying businesses should ensure they are receiving this funding if they meet the eligibility criteria, as this is a cash lifeline that could make a difference.
Grants Available for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sectors
Businesses within the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will be entitled to a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property. The amount available for each business depends on the rateable value of the property; those with a rateable value under £15,000 can receive a grant of £10,000 and for those with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 are entitled to a grant of £25,000.
Grants Available for Small Businesses
Grants are also available for those small businesses that already pay little or no business rates, because of certain reliefs. A one-off grant of £10,000 will be available provided your business is based in England, you currently receive reliefs on your business rates and your business occupies the property in question.
How to claim
Both of the above grants are supposed to be automatic schemes, and local authorities should be contacting all eligible businesses, however when looking at particular local authorities, we have seen that they are asking businesses to apply via an online form, so please check your local authority’s website to see if this is required. Recipients cannot receive both the grants available for small businesses and retail, hospitality and leisure grants on the same property.
We have had feedback from a claimant of the Small Business Grant confirming that once they completed the online information their local authority needed, the grant was within their bank account within 2 days, so please do make the most of this opportunity as soon as possible.
