Across the combined Coventry and Warwickshire region, small businesses have been allocated £176million under the Government’s Small Business Grant and Retail Grant schemes and by the end of Easter week, £115 million had been paid out.
Warwickshire County and Coventry City Councils are working with CWLEP Growth Hub, Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, District and Borough councils and other partners to co-ordinate and provide support to local businesses.
By the end of Easter week, The Growth Hub, Chamber and WCC had received over 2,500 business enquiries since the onset of the lockdown, with WCC’s Customer Contact Centre alone receiving over 500 calls from businesses, the self-employed and employees in just the first two weeks.
Nationally, as of 27 April, over £7.59 billion had been paid out to 614k business properties, representing over 61% of the grant funding allocated to local authorities.
Locally of £176m allocated to Coventry & Warwickshire, £115m had been paid out, representing 65% of the grant funding allocated and there is still between 46% and 23% of eligible businesses yet to be paid, depending on location within the region.
It does appear however that there are a significant number of local businesses who are not claiming these grants and feel they don’t need the money
Cash Grants for small businesses
The retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England can apply for a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property. For rateable values of under £15,000, they will receive £10,000.
Between £15,001 and £51,000, they will receive a grant of £25,000. No action is required as local authorities will write to eligible businesses.
Small businesses (any sector) eligible for the Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief will receive a grant of £10,000. Obviously not applicable for businesses that don’t have business premises.
With thanks to Warwickshire County Council’s Inward Investment team and Coventry and Warwickshire First.
