SMALL businesses across Reading, including those in the vital tourism industry, are eligible for a new round of support funding to help keep them afloat.
Businesses that were not eligible for Government funding through previous COVID related financial support schemes are being invited to apply for business support funding through the discretionary grant fund until the closing date on June 14.
The funding is designed to help small businesses which did not meet the criteria for the first round of funding which targeted Small Businesses in the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector.
There will be a two-week window in which businesses can apply for the additional funding and as the number of applications is expected to exceed the available funding, businesses are encouraged to fill in the online form before the deadline at midnight, June 14.
The grants do not need to be paid back and businesses that have already applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme are eligible to apply as well as people who are eligible for the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
The discretionary business grant scheme was announced by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak in early May and is designed to support small businesses that were trading on 11 March 2020. Applicants will be asked to demonstrate the adverse financial impact of Coronavirus on their business. Grant amounts will range between £1,000 and £25,000.
The broad categories of businesses which are eligible are:
- Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces. Examples could include units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment
- Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment
- Bed & Breakfasts which 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.
- Businesses operating in the Visitor Economy (i.e. tourism and hospitality) and the supply chain of this industry that did not qualify for the previous funding.
To find out more detail go to www.reading.gov.uk/discretionarygrantfund
