Muted NYE celebrations were followed by an announcement from the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, that a further £4.6 billion would be made available to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors to help them weather the UK's third national lockdown.
What kind of support is available?
Key components of the £4.6 billion support package include:
Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that have had to close due to the new lockdown restrictions, will be eligible for a one-off 'top up' grant of up to £9,000.
£594 million discretionary fund also made available to support other impacted businesses.
Both measures are in addition to the recent extension of the JRS (Job Retention Scheme) until April 2021, Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 pm and a further £1.1 billion in discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities.
The one-off 'top up' grants will be provided per property (not per business) and made available to any retail, hospitality or leisure business that is legally required to close and unable to operate remotely.
It's anticipated that over 600,000 business properties will have access to, and benefit from, this additional support (worth over £4 billion) across the UK.
The separate £594 million discretionary fund has been designed to support other businesses not eligible for the 'top up' grants, that might be affected by the new restrictions including partners and suppliers to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors - To access this support, businesses should contact their Local Authority directly.
Further information
The one-off 'top up' grants will be available as follows:
£4,000 for business properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under.
£6,000 for business properties with a rateable value between £15,001 and £51,000.
£9,000 for business properties with a rateable value over £51,001.
Additional details can be found here
Should you wish to explore the latest support packages available to your business, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the team at KeySME or contact your company accountant.
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