New support for businesses affected by lockdown measures

Following yesterday’s announcement of a new lockdown for England the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced a further round of support for businesses affected by current Covid 19-related restrictions.  Details are still limited but broadly the measures are as follows:

England

Grants will be made to retail, leisure and hospitality businesses forced to close as a result of the restrictions.  The level of grant will be set as below:

• £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

Although not specifically stated the expectation must be that these grants will be administered through local authorities in the same way as previous grants. 

In addition, there will be further funding provided to local authorities to provide grants to support other businesses not eligible for the grants that might be affected by the restrictions. Presumably, Local Authorities will publish details of the application process in due course.

Devolved authorities

The grants above are only available to businesses in England.  However additional funding is also being provided to the devolved authorities (£227 million in Wales) to be employed as they determine.  We will provide further details on any announcements made by the Welsh Government as to how they intend to deploy these funds as they become available. 

Here to help

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact one of the team.