Grants worth up to £9,000 welcomed by city businesses - but fears Raised that it's not going to be enough
BUSINESSES across Portsmouth and the surrounding areas have welcomed news of a £9,000 grant to help them through the third lockdown - but say they are fearful the money will not be enough to help every business survive.
Around 600,000 retail, hospitality and leisure sites in England will be able to claim the one-off grant of up to £9,000, based on the size of each store, pub, cafe or hotel tied into the business rates paid by each business.
The payments will cost the Treasury £4.6bn and are aimed to help support the high street as new lockdown measures announced on Monday take hold.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak also announced a further £594m for local authorities and devolved administrations to support businesses not eligible for the grants.
However there were fears that his plan does not go far enough, especially as the current business rate relief holiday is due to end in April.
Ross McNally, Hampshire Chamber chief executive and executive chairman, said: ‘We have continually called on the government to build more flexibility into its business support measures. While this immediate package is a welcome step given the new lockdown, it needs to be part of a continuing long-term plan and not just a short-term means to plug gaps in cashflow.’
Becky Lodge, who runs Startup
Disruptors, a business support group that looks after hundreds of businesses in the south, said: ‘The raft of new measures are a vital lifeline to many businesses across the UK. However, there are seemingly sectors that yet again the government is continuing to ignore and there are many families in peril at this time due to this decision making.’
Claire White, who runs Sweet Peas
Play Cafe in Fareham, said her situation is critical.
She said: ‘We've been closed since Christmas Eve and haven't heard about any financial help until today. We haven't been able to pay the rent yet. Nothing seems easy to find, however we are always grateful for any money to help pay our bills. I do wish they'd just tell landlords to freeze rents.’
Other businesses are also hanging on by a thread.
Iain Kirby, who runs Shenanigans Irish Bar in Southsea, said: ‘To be honest I will take anything at the minute. We have been closed for 32 weeks in total. The first lock down I did feel supported, however since then support has died off. All of my staff are gone. No business should fail because of this virus when the issue is out of our hands. My place adhered to all the rules, spent money I didn't have to ensure we were compliant and we were closed down regardless. We are hanging in there, but desperately
need support as the bills still need to be paid.’
Gareth Johnson, who runs Gym01 in Fratton, also said his situation was dire.
He said: ‘Since the beginning of November we have been open for 17 days and now are looking likely to be able to open some time after March. The £6,000 grant we qualify for will not cover one months’ critical running costs and it just goes to show how out of touch our government is with small businesses across the country. How businesses are supposed to be able to operate and employ staff after this third lockdown is beyond me.’