What council business grants are available? 

There have been a range of council business grants made available in response to the pandemic. These grants have been made available to businesses that go directly through their local councils. They have been so popular in some areas that some councils have been required to halt the schemes.

COVID-19 Council Business Grants

Businesses are now able to apply for a range of council business grants. They are available to support businesses impacted by local and national restrictions due to the pandemic. They are designed to support businesses that have been legally forced to closed, particularly in the following industries:

  • Hospitality
  • Leisure
  • Accommodation
  • Retail.

If you are interested in applying to any of these COVID-19 council business grants, you better act fast. A Grant Writing Consultant can help increase your chances of success. They are well versed in the art of writing funding proposals, knowing what funders are looking for. Whether it’s cash grants for small businesses,  start-up business grants or grants for charities. They can help you bid for funding efficiently.

Many of these schemes will close on the 31st March 2021. You must apply before this date.

To apply for support, you need to use the local council’s online forms to provide your businesses information. They will then use your information to calculate what level of grant you are eligible for. There are five council business grants available at the time of this blog:

  1. Local Restrictions Support Grant Closed (for businesses that have been required to close) – Closing 31st March 2021
  2. Local Restrictions Support Grant Open (for businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors) – Closing 31st March 2021
  3. Local Restrictions Support Grant Sector (for nightclubs and other late-night venues) – Closing 31st March 2021
  4. National Lockdown Grants – Closing 31st March 2021
  5. Essential Business Grant Scheme

These grant schemes have been assisted with funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). This is so that the eligibility criteria can be extended, providing grants for businesses. Businesses may be entitled to more than one type of grant. The local councils’ systems are designed to calculate the grants that each business is entitled to. This is done based on the information that you will provide them with.

Council business grants eligibility criteria

Local Restriction Support Grant Closed: 

  • You must have been established and trading prior to the introduction of national restrictions (5 November).
  • You must have been forced to close by the Government or change the nature of business due to national lockdowns. This could include moving to a collection and delivery service, for example. You show your activity is linked to supply chains or have had a significant fall in demand. Supply chains must be linked to Hospitality, Leisure and Accommodation sectors.
  • Your business must operate from commercial premises located within your local council area. If your premisses are on the business rates valuation list, you must provide relevant account details. If your business isn’t on the business rates valuation list, provide evidence of ongoing fixed commercial property related costs. They can be evidenced by a signed lease, bank statements or utility bills. Only one grant is awarded per business premises.
  • Businesses in shared premises will need to be able to demonstrate they’re independent of each other. Also, that they incur fixed premises costs and that you have a legal agreement for that space.

The amount you’ll get will depend on the rateable value of your business property on 5th November 2020. Where your business doesn’t have a rateable value, your grant level will be set at a lower level.

Local Restrictions Support Grant Open:

It’s worth noting that this scheme does not operate during the period of national restrictions.

  • You must operate within the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors. Or you must evidence that your business activity is linked to the supply chain of these sectors.
  • You must be able to evidence that you’ve suffered from a fall in demand as a result of Local Restrictions.
  • Your commercial premises must be located within your local area.
  • Your business must have been established prior to the introduction of local restrictions (18th September 2020). Businesses that were forced to close due to national restrictions and have never been allowed to reopen aren’t This is unless you have since repurposed your business and were legally operating prior to 18th September. 

The grant amount you’ll get will depend on the rateable value of your business property on the 18th September 2020. The grant payment will be pro-rated to cover the eligible period. Grants will be paid on a fortnightly basis.

Local Restrictions Support Grant Sector:

This scheme doesn’t operate during the period of national restrictions.

  • You must be either a nightclub, dance hall, discotheques, sexual entertainment venue or hostess bar to be eligible.
  • You must operate in your local council area.
  • You must have been established and trading before the introduction of the first national lockdown restrictions in March 2020. You must never have reopened.

The amount you’ll get will depend on the rateable value of your business property on the 1st November 2020.

Need help with writing your grant application?

Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to start. If you don’t have the resources or the time in-house to write a winning grant – we can help. Our Grant Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business get started!

Grant Tracker

You can find this grant and others like it on our Business Grant Tracker. Currently, we have over 1,700 live business grant and funding opportunities. Our team have manually tracked 1,500+ data streams searching for business grant opportunities. Each one is then uploaded to one central system, streamlining the process.

All you need to do to gain access is sign up for free.

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