Businesses urged to apply for small business grant before deadline

There are only a few days left for certain small businesses to be able to apply for a Covid-19 Discretionary Grant in the county, with applications due to close this Sunday (14 June).

Northumberland County Council opened applications last week for this new fund from Government, which is aimed at some of the small businesses which have not been eligible for previous funding schemes.

If you have a business in one of the following categories you could be eligible:

• Serviced B&Bs with 3 bed spaces and above and which pay Council Tax instead of business rates (not self-catering properties or Airbnb);

• Businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces, which do not have their own business rates assessment;

• Small charities in receipt of charitable rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief;

• Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment; and

• Hotels and pubs with a rateable value which is more than £51,000.

You must also be a small or micro business, have relatively high ongoing, fixed property-related costs, and be able to demonstrate that you have suffered a significant fall in income due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Full guidance and frequently asked questions about the grant are available on the council’s website at www.northumberland.gov.uk/businesshub

In order to ensure that applications can be considered and processed quickly the grants team is asking applicants to make sure that they complete the required details as fully as possible, and double check the payment information that they provide. 

Councillor Nick Oliver, Cabinet Member for Resources from Northumberland County Council said: “We are very keen that as many businesses as possible are able to access funding from this grant scheme. “This is a relatively small fund compared to previous ones, so we want to make sure that it reaches all those eligible, with much needed financial support.

“Within the Government’s guidance, we have targeted business sectors that we know have missed out on previous pots, so I’d urge them to make an application. “We have already paid out over £84.6m to 7,515 businesses across Northumberland, and our further lobbying and close work with Government has now brought in this additional £4.6m fund. 

We know that this won’t meet all needs however, and we will continue to shout for our county, so that we can maximise the amount of support available and help more sectors.

“Local businesses are imperative to the future prosperity of Northumberland, and we are doing everything that we can to support them through this most difficult time.

Applications for the Covid-19 Discretionary Grants Fund opened on 1 June, and will close at midnight on Sunday 14 June. 

Payments will be made as soon as possible.