More business grants have been announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as England enters another national ‘lockdown.’
There will be 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.
A £594 million discretionary fund will also made available to support other impacted businesses.
This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that these business will be closed until at least February half-term due to the growing spread of covid.
The cash is provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak 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”.
A fund of £594 million is also being made available for Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations to support other businesses not eligible for the grants, that might be affected by the restrictions. Businesses should apply to the Local Authorities.
The one-off top-ups will be granted to closed businesses:
£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
According to real estate specialists Altus Group, 401,690 non-essential shops, 64,537 pubs/restaurants, 20,703 personal care facilities and 7,051 gyms and leisure centres across the country are now closed.
