More than £3million emergency grants will reach small businesses in North East Lincolnshire in the next few days as the first batch of grants are being paid out.
So far, more than 1000 small businesses in North East Lincolnshire have already submitted their information for grants support to help their business during the Coronavirus outbreak.
And in the next few days, the first 287 businesses who submitted their information will receive the grant money in their bank account as the council does the first payment run worth a total of £3.27million.
Cllr John Fenty, Cabinet member for business support, explained: “We know how important this money is to many businesses, needed in some cases just to stay afloat – but we need you to contact us and give us some details so we can get that money to you. This money does not have to be paid back – it’s from the government to help businesses survive. At the council, we’re working hard to make sure that small businesses get the money that government has made available quickly.”
Around 3000 businesses currently in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief are eligible for this support in the area, and are being invited to submit their information in order to access the grants.
A simple online form needs to be submitted in the first instance – available on www.nelincs.gov.uk/coronavirus – in the “Business grants and support” section. The Council will then check eligibility and distribute grants as soon as it possibly can. If you need help filling in the form to apply for the grants, please contact the council’s economy team on 01472 324615 or 01472 324367.
Measures announced by government so far include:
- 100% Business rate relief for all businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors for 2020/21 and 100% Business rate relief for all non-Local Authority child care providers for 2020/21. For these, new bills will be issued to businesses as soon as possible. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-retail-discount-guidance
- Grants of up to £25,000 for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with rateable values of less than £51,000. Grants of £10,000 for all businesses in receipt of Small Business rate relief or Rural Rate relief. These grants will not need to be paid back. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding
- Full list of support from government and advice to businesses including information about the wage subsidy https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/
Additionally, for larger businesses, the Government has introduced a guaranteed loan scheme for any small or medium sized business (with turnover of no more than £41M) that needs access to cash to help with immediate business costs. The scheme will offer loans of up to £5Million, with no interest due in the first 6 months. Support for larger firms will be available through the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility. To access these facilities, businesses should contact banks and lenders.
Cllr Fenty praised staff for pulling out the stops and getting the money processed quickly. “We’re doing what we can to process applications quickly. You can rest assured, we are diverting resources to ensure this task is completed as quickly as is possible and would ask that you try and avoid contacting us for updates so we can focus on getting the money to eligible businesses.”
Other sources of business advice:
- If you want advice about what measures are available to help your business, or talk through options, email businesssupport@e-factor.co.uk in the first instance to arrange a call back from one of the advisors. Someone will call you back to discuss your queries, and make sure you find the information and support you need to make the decisions that are best for your business.
- Local business support advice is available from the Humber Growth Hub https://www.humbergrowthhub.org/covid-19/
- Full list of support from government and advice to businesses https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/
If you need additional general information about other council services, visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/coronavirus in the first instance.
ENDS