Slice of £60m up for grabs to help local firms recover

UP to £60 million in new support funding has been made available to businesses in the West Midlands.

A pot worth £50 million has been given to local councils by the Government to help those companies in the leisure, hospitality and accommodation sectors affected by Covid-19 and the new Omicron variant.

The size of the grants are based on the rateable value of an individual company’s premises:

Rateable value of £15,000 or below: £2,667

Rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000: £4,000

Rateable value of £51,000 or above: £6,000

Businesses eligible for grants are those that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors.

This includes businesses whose main function is to provide a venue for the consumption and sale of food and drink, facilities linked to recreation and entertainment and businesses whose main premise is used for holiday and travel.

In addition, more than £9 million in discretionary funding is also being made available for local authorities in the West Midlands to support other companies.

Business Minister Paul Scully said: “The Omicron variant has been spreading fast and I know how much disruption it has caused many businesses this winter, especially in the hospitality and leisure sectors.

“I’m urging businesses in the West Midlands and across the country to engage with their council to make the most of the grants we’re providing.”

These grants are the same size as the monthly cash grants government provided to hospitality businesses when they were fully closed earlier this year whereas now they can continue to trade.

The grant funding forms part of a £1 billion support package which includes an additional £30 million for the Culture Recovery Fund and reintroducing the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme - reimbursing eligible businesses for the cost of statutory sick pay for covidrelated absences.