£4.6bn in new lockdown grants announced by the Chancellor

Lockdown grants, worth up to £9,000 per business property, have today been announced by the Chancellor for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

In addition to this, a £594m discretionary fund is also being made available to support other businesses impacted by Covid-19

This is on top of the £1.1bn further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities and Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month, that have previously been announced.

One off top-up lockdown grants for retail, hospitality and leisure

These newly announced top-up grants are provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions, and the Government believes these will benefit over 600,000 business properties which, across all nations in the UK will total £4 billion.

These top-up grants will be available to closed businesses as follows:

• £4,000, which is for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
• £6,000, which is for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
• £9,000, which is for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000

Discretionary Fund Grants

An additional £594 million is being provided for Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations to support other businesses not eligible for the grants, that might be affected by the lockdown restrictions. Businesses should apply to their Local Authorities to access these grants, if eligible.

These newly announced grants are in addition to existing business support, which included grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.

Furlough scheme extension and Government-backed loans

As announced, just before Christmas, the furlough scheme has been extended for an additional month, to April 2021 and 100% government-backed loans have been extended until March 2021.

Further information on Lockdown grants and other support measures

Further information on the support measures available from the Government can be found on its website here.

How Alexander & Co can assist

Information on how the Government is helping businesses impacted by COVID-19 can be found on their website here. Additional information on the Job Retention Bonus will be uploaded to the Government’s website in due course.

For any advice or assistance, contact our dedicated team of accountants. Our accountants are here to provide you with all aspects of tax and business growth advice to help your business thrive in the current climate.

Call us on 0161 832 4841, email info@alexander.co.uk or simply fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch.