East Staffordshire businesses are being urged to check if they are eligible to apply for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund before the deadline for applications closes on Sunday 7th June.
47 businesses have already applied for the £5,000 coronavirus support grant, however there are a number of businesses who are eligible but have yet to apply.
The Discretionary Grant Fund, totalling £1.19m, is in addition to the Small Business Grants Funds and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund which are already available to businesses.
Grants of £5,000 will be awarded by East Staffordshire Borough Council from this fund and applications will be processed on a first come first served basis. The scheme will close for applications at midnight on Sunday 7th June 2020.
Councillor Duncan Goodfellow, Leader of the Council, said: “I would like to encourage all local businesses, who think they are eligible for the grant, to apply using our online application form before the closing date for applications.
“Our teams will be working to process the applications and allocate the grant funding to successful businesses as quickly as possible.”
The grant is prioritised for following types of business that are based and trading within East Staffordshire:
- Small or Micro businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces with high fixed property-related costs who can demonstrate that they have suffered from a significant fall in income due to COVID-19.
- Regular market and street traders that trade and have fixed building costs in relation to their business within East Staffordshire, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment.
- Bed & Breakfasts that pay council tax instead of business rates.
- Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief. Charities must trade in East Staffordshire and must not be part of, associated with or affiliated to any other Charities, including national Charities.
Only businesses that were trading on 11th March are eligible to apply for this grant. This grant funding is for businesses that are not eligible for other support schemes, however businesses that are eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme are entitled to apply for this grant.
For more information on the eligibility criteria and how to apply please go to https://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/business-rates/local-authority-discretionary-grant-fund