The Chancellor has today announced new one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring:
- £4,000 grants will be available for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 grants will be available for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 grants will be available for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
This funding comes in addition to £1.1 billion of further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month and extension of furlough scheme. There is also a £594 million discretionary fund made available to support other impacted businesses. The government has further provided 100% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, £1.1 billion existing discretionary funding for Local Authorities, the furlough scheme now extended to April and 100% government backed loans, extended until March.
This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that these business will be closed until at least February half-term in order to help control the virus, and, together with the wide range of existing support, provides them with certainty through the Spring period.
The cash is provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions, and is expected to benefit over 600,000 business properties, worth £4 billion in total across all nations of the UK.
Telford MP Lucy Allan said:
"This new announcement of grant funding for businesses in Telford will come as relief to many who have come under increasing pressure from the economic impact of the pandemic. I am pleased that the Chancellor and his team at the Treasury have been proactive in ensuring that businesses in my constituency can access grant funding to keep their businesses viable through this new national lockdown."
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak MP, said:
"The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge - and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further."
"Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the Spring."
"This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen."
The new one-off grants come in addition to billions of existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.
