A reminder that business in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors in England may be due support funding from their local authority.
Recently, local authorities were reminded by government that they needed to process grants quickly. Extracts from a letter sent to authorities is reproduced below:
“As you will know, the spread of the Omicron variant is creating further challenges for businesses and workers. The virus has had a particular impact on the hospitality, leisure, and accommodation sectors, with declining footfalls and a growing number of cancellations.
“This is why we have announced a £1 billion support package, including hundreds of millions of pounds in further grant funding. Eligible businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors will be able to apply for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises, depending on rateable value:
- Businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or above: £6,000,
- Businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000: £4,000,
- Businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or below: £2,667.
“The Government has chosen to provide generous grants of the same value as those given to hospitality businesses when they were fully closed last year – despite businesses still being able to trade. In total, we are providing £635 million directly to businesses across the UK, with councils being responsible for processing applications and distributing the funds.
“On top of this, we are also providing over £100 million in top-up funding for the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), introduced last year to help businesses. This is intended to help other businesses impacted by Omicron, such as those that supply the hospitality and leisure sectors.
“Local authorities will have discretion to allocate this funding to businesses most in need. I have personally written to those local authorities who have more than 5 per cent of previous funds left over, instructing them to distribute the money to those that need it.”
The message is clear enough, and if you are a business in one of the affected sectors or you are a supplier to those sectors and have been affected by recent disruption, call your local authority now to ensure you receive any grants to which you may be entitled.
