Liverpool City Council launched the grant support scheme at the end of March and has now processed almost all the applications it has received, providing £36million to businesses.
Council finance staff have worked through the
Easter bank holiday weekend to ensure hundreds of local companies will get the
money they need this week.
The team have been processing an average of 400
applications a day and there is currently no backlog in the process.
City businesses which have not yet applied are
urged to go to www.liverpool.gov.uk/covidbusiness to secure the emergency funding.
All businesses, from any sector, with a
rateable value of £15,000 or below are eligible to apply for a £10,000 grant.
To qualify they must have been receiving Small
Business Rates Relief and need to provide a bank statement from the past three
months.
For businesses in the retail, hospitality and
leisure sector, with a rateable value between £15,000.01 and less than £51,000,
they may qualify for a £25,000 grant.
Qualifying businesses include:
· shops
· cafes,
restaurants, takeaways and drinking establishments
· cinemas,
music venues and nightclubs
· petrol
stations
· gyms,
leisure and sports facilities
· estate
agents and letting agents
· betting
shops and bingo halls
· car
showrooms
· hotels
and guest houses
Due to the Easter bank
holiday, the funds for the business grants will be transmitted today Tuesday, 14 April and
will take up to three
working days to clear in bank accounts.
For more information about the grant support scheme and for businesses to find out if they are eligible, people should go to: www.liverpool.gov.uk/covidbusiness
Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Gary Millar, said:
“We fully appreciate this is a very difficult time for businesses and we have a dedicated team working as hard as they can, including over the Easter bank holiday weekend, to process applications for grants.
“Over the last week, we have processed more than 1,700 applications worth around £17 million and are now able to deal with at least 400 applications per day.
“We have also proactively contacted all businesses we have details who are eligible, to let them know. “It is really important that businesses check on our website to make sure they are eligible for the grants, and provide all of the information that the Government have asked for, as that will speed up the processing of their application.”
