Plymouth City Council will have paid out £2.7million by the end of April to businesses that are reopening after lockdown.
The local authority has received more than 1,000 applications for the Restart Grant cash since the scheme opened on April 12, and has approved 472 already.
A council spokesperson said: “We’ve paid out £1.2million so far to businesses, and have a further payment of £1.5million being made this week. We aim to process payments within two weeks of application.”
The Restart Grants are available for rate-paying businesses who were trading on April 1, 2021, in the non-essential retail, hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care or gym sectors. Applications will close on June 30, 2021.
The Government created the scheme to enable “non-essential” businesses to reopen safely following lockdown. Eligible businesses in the “non-essential” retail sector may be entitled to a one-off cash grant of up to £6,000.
Eligible businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym sectors may be entitled to a one-off cash grant of up to £18,000.
Meanwhile, Plymouth City Council has a further £800,000 of Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funding to distribute in grants to city businesses, helping them to recover from the impact of Covid-19.
The authority stressed that as there is only a small amount of funding available, it will be prioritising certain businesses for support.
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It said priority will be given to businesses with high fixed costs, that haven’t received any financial support for either of the national lockdowns in November 2020 and January to March 2021.
Businesses in the following sectors that have fixed costs of more than £500 a month, will be prioritised for support:
Boat-based businesses, including businesses in the supply chain for the fishing and marine sector.
Childcare providers.
Businesses which supply music venues, weddings, events, hospitality, leisure and tourism.
Creative and event businesses which work from home, including freelance practitioners and consultants.
Businesses with packaged rent and rates who are in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors and not eligible for the Restart Grant.
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The following additional eligibility criteria also applies and businesses must:
Have been trading on or before April 1, 2021.
Be a micro or small business with fewer than 50 employees.
Have ongoing fixed monthly business costs in Plymouth, such as mooring fees, rent, rates, insurances, utilities, equipment rental.
Have not exceeded state subsidy levels.
Have been significantly affected by Covid-19.
If a home-based business, must be registered with HRMC and provide their Company Unique Taxpayer Reference and a copy of their most recent tax return.
Applications for the new ARG funding will opened at 10am on Tuesday, April 27. The application process will close on Tuesday, May 4, at 10am, or once all of the funding has been allocated, so businesses are urged to apply as soon as they can.