More than £20m of vital support has been awarded to businesses across Allerdale affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.
As of yesterday (April 8), a total of 1,691 businesses have been awarded Government grants and other financial support – totalling £20.795m – thanks to the quick work of the team at Allerdale Borough Council who are administering the payments.
Eligible businesses currently paying business rates by direct debit do not have to do anything, as they will automatically be paid by the council.
All other eligible businesses need to provide the council with their banking and other information so that eligibility can be checked and the money paid straight into their account. An online form is available to do this at: https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/coronavirus/coronavirus-business-grants-claims/. This includes businesses who recently cancelled their direct debits as the council no longer holds their details.
While many businesses have already submitted their details, if they are required to do so, there are still some eligible businesses who have not yet got in touch with the council. Those businesses are urged to complete the online form as soon as possible so that any payments can be processed.
In total, 2,336 applications (these include those who’ve been paid automatically) have been made.
There are two grants available both of which are being administered by Allerdale Borough Council.
The first provides all businesses in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief with a grant of £10,000. The maximum rateable value limit is £15,000.
The second scheme provides support for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. These are:
- £10,000 for businesses with property with a rateable value of up to £15,000 (which do not receive small business rate relief or rural rate relief)
- £25,000 for businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,001 and £50,999.
Jim Lister, Executive member for finance and legal, said: “I have nothing but praise for our staff here at Allerdale who are working exceptionally hard to support businesses throughout this tough time. The amount of applications they’ve been able to deal with so far really is testament to their skill and professionalism under challenging circumstances.
“For those businesses who’ve yet to get in touch, and think they may be eligible, please check out our website and find out more about the criteria and support available. If you need to send us your details then please do so as soon as you can – we know how crucial this support is and we’d like you to be able to receive it as quickly as possible.
“All the information can be found on our website at https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/coronavirus/.”
