Restart Grant Scheme offering £6bn to businesses goes live for applications today

Date: April 1, 2021

Restart Grant scheme was previously announced by the Government on 3 March 2021 and is providing £6bn in grant funding becomes open for businesses to apply from today.

These one-off Restart Grants are intended to support certain business sectors that provide in personal services in particular sectors. The Restart Grant replaces Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG) that previously were available.

Dependent upon rateable value, up to £18,000 in grants is available per premise to hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym business premises, whilst up to £6,000 is available to non-essential retail. The aim of these grant is to help these businesses reopen safely.

Restart Grants – who can apply?

Restart Grants are divided into two different Strands. Non-essential retail forms Strand One, whilst Strand two is made up of hospitality, accommodation, leisure and personal care.

There are exclusions to both strands, which should be outlined on your local council’s website, generally these inclusions are businesses that have been allowed to continue trading.

Restart grants – how much can you claim?

The amount of money available per premises is calculated on the following rateable value tiers:

For Strand One businesses (non-essential retail)

For rateable values of £15,000 or less, £2,667 can be claimed
For rateable values between £15,000 and £50,999, £4,000 can be claimed
For rateable values £51,000 and over, £6,000 can be claimed

For Strand Two businesses (hospitality, leisure, accommodation, personal care and gyms)

For rateable values of £15,000 or less, £8,000 can be claimed
For rateable values between £15,000 and £50,999, £12,000 can be claimed
For rateable values £51,000 and over, £18,000 can be claimed

Restart Grant – how to apply

These grants are being administered by local councils, who are advised by the Government to use their discretion to determine whether businesses meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme. Businesses should apply direct to the relevant authority. You can use this search tool to find your local council here, where you will be able to apply direct.

Additionally, Local authorities in England are being provided with an extra £425m to distribute at their discretion to businesses that are not eligible for the grant but have been impacted by COVID-19.

If you are unsure if your business falls into one of the relevant categories, you can check your businesses eligibility here.

Applications are open from today, 1 April 2020 and close on 30 June 2021.

To be eligible, businesses are required to be trading and must have a business rates liability on 1 April 2021.

Restart Grant – further information

Further information is available on gov.uk here you can also check out our COVID-19 business support hub here for information on support packages available

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