Further to the Prime Minister’s announcement on 4 January 2021, declaring another national lockdown, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced “top-up” grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses adversely impacted by the new lockdown, with the proposal expected to cost £4.6 billion and benefit over 600,000 businesses.
Who is the grant available to and how much is available?
A grant is available through to the Spring for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure industry who have been forced to close or operate at a reduced level as a result of the national lockdown restrictions.
The amount available is on a per-property basis and is calculated on the rateable value of the individual business and will be granted to closed businesses as follows:
| Rateable Value | Grant Amount | |
| £15,000 or under | £4,000 | |
| Between £15,000 and £51,000 | £6,000 | |
| Over £51,000 | £9,000 | |
| Source: https://www.gov.uk/ | ||
This grant is in addition to existing financial support for impacted businesses including grants of up to £3,000 for businesses forced to close and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.
Are the grants re-payable?
At this stage, the top-up grant money is not re-payable.
How can your business apply for a grant?
Eligible businesses need to apply for financial support via their local authority.
What if your business is not eligible for the grant?
To support businesses who operate in other sectors who have also been adversely impacted by the national lockdown restrictions, a further £594 million is being provided to local authorities and the Devolved Administrations for distribution accordingly.
Other additional support
The government has also provided 100% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, the furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021, and the availability of government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans (CBILs) has been extended until 31 March 2021.
It remains to be seen whether during the Budget on 3 March 2021, this support will be extended further into the year.
The link to the government website with details on how to find the right local authority for application, please click here. If you have any questions or would like to know more about how we can help you with a business issue you may have, please contact our expert Business Law team at company.secretarial@twmsolicitors.com.
