Hello, I’m Cllr Mike Evemy, Cabinet Member for Finance. We finally received guidance for the new Discretionary Business Grant on Wednesday night. As I outlined last week, this scheme is designed for small and micro businesses that have not been able to access any of the other financial support that the government has made available during lockdown.
Although there is some local discretion to how money can be allocated, the Government has confirmed that grants are “primary and predominantly” aimed at small (fewer than 50 staff) and micro (fewer than 10 staff) businesses that:
have relatively high ongoing fixed property-related costs
can demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in income due to COVID-19,
occupy a property (or part of a property) with a Rateable Value or Annual Rent or Annual Mortgage payments below £51,000.
We are also asked to prioritise:
Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces,
Regular market traders with fixed building costs,
B&B’s that pay Council Tax rather than NDR, and
Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rate relief which would have otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief.
The amount provided by government has been capped at 5% of the funding made available in the last round of small business funding. That will mean we have up to £1,873,000 to distribute through the scheme. It is probable that the scheme will be oversubscribed so we will open applications for a limited time, likely to be two weeks.
We are now establishing a clear set of eligibility criteria for grants, as well as setting up new and robust application, assessment and validation processes, before we can open up for applications. We have already set up a Project Team to work on the administration of these grants and will publish information on the application process on the coronavirus business page of our website as soon as possible.
I recognise the severity of the situation that small businesses face and we will seek to do this as quickly as we can, whilst ensuring that our processes are robust and easy for businesses to follow.
We expect to be in a position to be open for applications early in June.
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, which issues grants of 80% of average monthly trading profits for three months to eligible self-employed people and sole traders, is now live for applications.
Please check your eligibility and apply through the link below. Please note that you must make the claim yourself. Your tax agent or adviser must not claim on your behalf as this will trigger a fraud alert and cause a delay to your payment.
New guidance has been published to help ensure workplaces are as safe as possible. The eight guides cover a range of different types of work including shops, domestic homes and offices. Many businesses operate more than one type of workplace, such as an office, factory and fleet of vehicles and may need to use more than one of these guides to plan what is needed to keep people safe.
The Food Standards Agency has published specific guidance to help food businesses adapt and re-open during COVID-19. This covers all aspects of the food industry including farming and agriculture, food manufacturers, restaurants and takeaways. The guidance should be read in conjunction with the Safe Working guidance mentioned above.
The BBC recently featured The Control Techniques factory in Newtown, Wales which is still running at full production despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Lots of things had to change, from the shift patterns and the corridors to the canteen and the toilets. It is an interesting clip to watch for businesses planning to reopen or increase production soon.
Trade credit insurance guarantee
Businesses with supply chains which rely on trade credit insurance and who are experiencing difficulties maintaining cover will get support from the government.
The Coronavirus situation means that businesses struggling to pay bills risk having credit insurance withdrawn or premiums increasing to unaffordable levels. To prevent this from happening, the government will temporarily guarantee business-to-business transactions currently supported by trade credit insurance, ensuring the majority of insurance coverage will be maintained and allowing businesses to trade with confidence.
Drop in webinars will take place later this month for anyone considering their career options including jobseekers, young people making education choices and those who may be facing redundancy during this turbulent time. Attendees can join and leave the webinar throughout the day as the event is flexible to individual interests. Thespeakers will cover a wide range of industry sectors from accountancy to video production and manufacturing to care and support work.
Start and Grow Enterprise is an existing local business support programme which has recently received further funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the University of Gloucestershire so it can continue to run until 31st March 2023.
The programme supports pre-starts, start-ups and established early-stage firms. Eligible businesses can access a start-up course, business growth course, business registration and planning workshops, a range of business growth workshops, networking events, business coaching, and grant funding.
UK Hospitality - represents the broad hospitality sector – covering everything from bars, coffee shops, contract catering, hotels, nightclubs, visitor attractions and other leisure venues
The government's business support website sets out the full range of business support measures that have been made available to UK businesses and employees.
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Hello, I’m Cllr Mike Evemy, Cabinet Member for Finance. We finally received guidance for the new Discretionary Business Grant on Wednesday night. As I outlined last week, this scheme is designed for small and micro businesses that have not been able to access any of the other financial support that the government has made available during lockdown. 
