Cash help extended to small businesses

Mobile and home-based businesses in County Durham are being given longer to apply for financial support designed to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

Durham County Council is extending the Additional Restrictions Grant( ARG) programme–whichgives financial assistance to businesses in the hospitality, leisure, accommodation and personal care sectors which have not had any previous support.

The grants are aimed at businesses which do not have their own business rate accounts but still incur monthly fixed business-related costs and which have been significantly impacted by the restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

After giving out more than £11m across the county through various coronavirus assistance grants, it has now decided to extend th eAR G support beyond the original deadline–giving businesses until the end of June to claim.

To be eligible, businesses must be in the hospitality, leisure, accommodation or personal care sectors which had not had any support prior to ARG.

Paul Darby, Durham County Council’ s corporate director of resources, said: “We understand that the last 14 months have been very tough for businesses from all sectors across County Durham.

“We want to ensure that we reach eligible businesses across the county and that is why we are extending the deadline for applications to this scheme until the end of June.

“We encourage any businesses that have not already had support through this grant to find out if they meet the eligibility criteria, and if they do so, to apply.”

Visitwww.durham.gov.uk/ c ovid 19 business grants