There has been a lot of help out there for businesses struggling to get through the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. But some of you have fallen through the cracks – unable to access grants that you might need to stay afloat.
What’s more, the Small Business Grant Fund, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants and Local Authority Discretionary Grants which ran through the initial lockdown period have now largely expired.
But your hope for getting a slice of the government cash pie isn’t over yet.
The Restart Grant and the Additional Restrictions Grant could be the lifelines you have been looking for.
The Restart Grant
From April 2021, one-off Restart Grants of up to £6,000 per premises were made available to non-essential retail businesses that were ordered to close during lockdown.
Businesses within the hospitality and other sectors opening later, such as accommodation and leisure, were also offered grants of up to £18,000 per premises.
This grant funding was earmarked for the cost of reopening safely.
Eligibility
Your business may be eligible if it is:
based in England
rate-paying
in the non-essential retail, hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care or gym sectors
trading on 1 April 2021
You cannot get funding if your business:
is in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register
has exceeded the permitted subsidy allowance
The Additional Restrictions Grant
The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) provides local councils with grant funding to support businesses that are severely impacted by restrictions, and that may or may not be in the business rates system.
Previous guidance for the Additional Restrictions Grant indicated that businesses must have been trading before relevant restrictions were introduced in order to be eligible. This is no longer the case. All businesses that are trading and meet other eligibility criteria may apply to receive funding under this scheme. There is no starting date from which businesses must have been trading in order to qualify for grant funding.
Local councils can determine which businesses to support and determine the amount of funding provided from the ARG scheme.
Some councils have completed their first few rounds of funding and have still be left with quite a substantial surplus. This means that the criteria for applying for this funding is constantly changing.
Eligibility
Local councils have the freedom to determine the eligibility criteria for these grants.
This could include:
businesses which do not pay business rates
businesses that have not received wider grant support
businesses from all sectors that are severely impacted by restrictions
You cannot get funding if:
your business is in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register
you have exceeded the permitted subsidy allowance
What is the subsidy allowance?
You cannot apply for the Restart Grant or the ARG if you have already exceeded the personal subsidy allowance. But what is this?
The new domestic subsidy allowance for the COVID-19 business support grants took effect on 4 March 2021. Applications made prior to that date are subject to the previous rules.
The subsidy allowances are as follows:
Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance – you’re allowed up to £335,000 (subject to exchange rates) over any period of three years
COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance – you’re allowed up to £1,600,000
COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance - if you have reached your limits under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance and COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance, you may be able to access a further allowance of funding under these scheme rules of up to £9,000,000, provided certain conditions are met
Grants under these three allowances can be combined for a potential total allowance of up to £10,935,000 (subject to exchange rates).
How to apply
If you haven’t exceeded your allowance and think you could be eligible for these grants, it’s worth exploring further.
To understand the specifics of your local authority, you would need to visit their website and look at the application process. Even if you don’t fit the bill now, you might do eventually as the council continues to allocate the money.