More than 350 Plymouth businesses and 1,700 jobs have been saved by a £2.27million grant fund during the coronavirus lockdown.
Plymouth City Council distributed the cash to 355 enterprises - a mix of charities, B&Bs, nurseries and fishing industry businesses - from the Discretionary Grant Fund.
The cash was paid as part of the Plymouth City Council’s acute response for Resurgam, the city’s economic recovery plan. The grants were all allocated and paid out within a month, with the final payments being made by the start of July 2020.
The local authority was responsible for distributing the £2.27million fund to support city businesses during the pandemic.
The aim of the fund was to help businesses that weren’t eligible for the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund, but which have significant fixed costs and desperately needed financial support.
The fund was quickly oversubscribed and had to close early after receiving 400 applications for the limited pot of money. A team of over 30 Council staff worked to verify and process applications quickly and manned a telephone helpline to support businesses with their applications, handling more than 370 queries during June alone.
Council leader Tudor Evans said: “We’ve worked quickly and efficiently to get this much-needed financial support out to as many businesses as possible, as fast as possible.
“Our staff have worked incredibly hard to not only set up and handle the applications quickly, but also to score and evaluate them. We’ve supported our fishing community and visitor economy, as well as language schools, nurseries, charities and many other small businesses.
Most Read
“We were always conscious that the demand was likely to outstrip supply and that turned out to be the case. We had to prioritise according to the Government guidelines to ensure the money went to those in most need, but we could have done so much more if we had been given access to more funding, or allowed to keep the under spend on the first grant scheme announced.
“We’ll continue to fight for our local businesses by lobbying for more financial support – although lockdown measures are easing, this is far from over and we will do everything we can to protect Plymouth jobs and businesses.”
The criteria of the fund were set nationally by Government, intended to support small businesses with fewer than 50 employees that have ongoing premises-related costs and which had suffered a drop in income due to the pandemic.
How to contact William Telford and Business Live
Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
To contact William: Email: william.telford@reachplc.com - Phone: 01752 293116 - Mob: 07584 594052 - Twitter: - LinkedIn: - Facebook:
Stay in touch: BusinessLive newsletters have been re-designed to make them even better. We send morning bulletins straight to your inbox on the latest news, views and opinion in the South West. Get our breaking news alerts and weekly sector reviews too. Sign up now - it's free and it only takes a minute. To sign up for Business Live's daily newsletters click .
And visit the Business Live South West LinkedIn page
Due to the limited nature of funds allocated to Plymouth, prioritisation was based strictly around the Government’s outlined priority sectors with the addition in Plymouth of boat-based businesses which represent a significant contribution to the city economy.
Grants paid to Plymouth businesses ranged from £1,000 to £25,000 and the applications were reviewed by a panel, with all businesses required to meet the same evidence based criteria.
Business types prioritised for the Discretionary Grants Fund, as outlined by the Government’s criteria included:
Don’t miss
B&Bs that pay council tax rather than business rates.
Regular market traders that do not have business rated premises.
Small businesses in shared offices or flexible workspaces who pay an all-inclusive rent.
Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief.
The Plymouth scheme also supported boat-based businesses including fishing boats and tourism-based charter boats.