Member Article

£116m of Government Coronavirus grants distributed in Coventry & Warwickshire

Leading regional business organisations are urging companies who have not yet contacted their local council about Covid-19 grant funding to get in touch immediately after £116 million has already been administered in Coventry and Warwickshire.

The Government has announced a number of business support packages to provide grants between £10,000 and £25,000 to qualifying companies which are being administered by Coventry City Council and the district and borough councils in Warwickshire.

Staff at Coventry City Council, Warwick District Council, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Rugby Borough Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council have been busy processing the information provided by businesses who have supplied the required basic information.

But the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Growth Hub, the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber and Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses want to ensure that no eligible companies fall through the net.

Craig Humphrey, the Managing Director of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub, said: “Businesses need to contact their local, district or borough council depending on where they are based to provide up-to-date contact information and their bank details in order for the organisations to pay out.

“Business occupancy changes over time and it is inevitable that local authority records take time to catch-up.

“There are two grants available – a grant of £10,000 from the Small Business Grant Fund for owners whose premises have a rateable value of up to £15,000 that are already in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief.

“And there are also two grant amounts under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme for businesses which qualify for the Expanded Retail Discount Scheme with a rateable value below £51,000 and have already had their business rates bills reduced to zero for the financial year 2020/2021.”

Louise Bennett, Chief Executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber, urged firms make sure they establish lines of communications with the relevant authorities.

She said: “The councils want to make sure they are in touch with every eligible business and I would therefore urge any business owner who falls within the criteria to receive these grants to contact their local council as soon as possible.

“The process is simple and councils in Coventry and Warwickshire have administered £116 million since receiving the money from the Government but unless they know these hard-to-reach businesses exist, they can’t help.

“It is vital for the recovery of our economy that we give a helping hand to as many businesses as possible particularly SMEs who are the bedrock of the business world because we want them to help in their survival in these difficult times.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .