Small businesses in South Gloucestershire who have not yet applied for a Discretionary Business Support Grant of up to £5000 to help with financial impact of COVID-19, are encouraged to apply in the third round of applications, which is now open.
We are providing another opportunity to apply for this fund with an extended focus on small and micro businesses who operate from residential premises. Applications are now open until Wednesday 12 August (at midday).
Discretionary Business Support Grants can provide financial aid to small and micro businesses towards ongoing fixed costs if they can demonstrate a significant drop in income as a result of coronavirus pandemic restriction measures.
So far, we have provided financial aid to more than 220 businesses with over £1.3 million of funding and we are keen to reach as many eligible businesses as possible, by now including those that operate from residential premises. Overall we have provided over £100 million in grants and business rates relief to support businesses through the pandemic.
The fund will prioritise the following businesses:
• businesses in shared or flexible spaces (such as units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment)
• regular market traders
• small charity properties in receipt of Charitable Business Rates Relief that would otherwise be eligible for
Small Business Rates Relief
• Bed and Breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates
The following are also able to apply:
• independent businesses – those that are not eligible for small business rate grants due to payment to a landlord of all-inclusive rent, or that operate form a residential premises
• charities and community organisations – those not eligible for small business rate grants due to payment to a landlord of all-inclusive rent
• childcare nurseries – those with a rateable value over £15,000 who will not have received business support grants to date, or that are not eligible for small business rate grants due to payment to a landlord of all-inclusive rent
South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources, Cllr Ben Burton said: “We are keen to reach all of the small businesses who are eligible for this scheme and have suffered financially due to the financial impact of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Our focus in this round is those businesses that are being run from home – or any type of residential premises, to support them through these tough times. We are pleased to have already helped hundreds of local businesses with over £100 million in grants and business rates relief, and we want to reach as many as possible to help them bounce back as lockdown restrictions ease.
“We made a decision to widen the scope of the scheme to include those businesses that operate from home and may not have been successful in the first two rounds of applications. Any applications which were previously submitted and are now eligible will be reassessed without having to submit a new application.”
Successful applications from the first and second round have recently been informed they will receive a 50 per cent top-up on the payments they have already received. This has been possible because of the number of applications we received was lower than anticipated and we have been able to increase the financial support provided.
For further information on eligibility, criteria, grant amounts and any other questions, please read the Discretionary Grants Fund FAQs before beginning your application www.southglos.gov.uk/discretionaryfund
**Please note – there is no need to apply again if you have already applied but were rejected due to operating your business from a residential premises, we will reassess these claims.**
