Coronavirus Business Support – Local Government Grants to Small Businesses

We have just heard from one of our clients who has already managed to successfully claim the £10,000 small business grant funding being made available to all businesses in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief.  This is one of the measures being administered by local councils, rather than HMRC,  and it would appear they have now received full instructions and funding from the Government to allow for funds to be distributed to businesses.

With the application having been made on Sunday via the council’s website, and the money being received in the bank two days later on Tuesday, it would appear the council is eager to distribute these funds as quickly as possible to ensure the survival of local businesses.

This could prove to be a very useful boost to cash reserves to help cover wages until the online portal is available to start making claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, something that isn’t expected until towards the end of April.  We would therefore advise all businesses in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief to check their local council website for details on how to make their claim.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.