High Peak Borough Council opens latest grant scheme to help businesses hit by Covid restrictions

The mandatory element of the Local Restrictions Support Grant Scheme went live in November and, from Monday, December 7, applications are now being invited for the discretionary element from eligible businesses.

Council leader Anthony Mckeown said: “We fully understand how important this financial support is to our local businesses and I would urge any businesses that think they are eligible for a discretionary grant to apply via our website.

“Businesses across the High Peak have had to bear the brunt of both national lockdowns and the higher level tiers and we know what an impact that has had.”

He added: “Paying out these grants is our priority and our teams are working hard to process the applications as quickly as we possibly can.”

The discretionary grant is for businesses which were are not liable for business rates but were legally required to close from November 5 to December 2.

It also applies to those businesses not legally required to close but who mainly supply those businesses that did have to close, such as non-essential retail, leisure and hospitality and personal care services, and where this supply represents at least 50 per cent of the business.

Businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors that were hit hard by tier two restrictions from October 31 to November 4 will automatically be awarded a grant payment covering this period without the need to complete a separate application.

To date, the Council has paid out £653,000 in mandatory business grants and £51,000 to businesses affected by the restrictions which were in place prior to the second national lockdown.

Details will be available soon on further grant funding related to restrictions that came into force on December 2, and £1,000 Christmas grants for ‘wet led’ pubs in tiers two and three.

For more information or to start an application, go to https://bit.ly/2KQOsAp.