Nearly 95% of eligible grants for a Coronavirus support scheme have been awarded to Carlisle businesses, totalling nearly £25miilion.
Carlisle City Council has now awarded £24,940,000 million in grants to 2,157 businesses in Carlisle.
The council continues to process government grants available for businesses affected by the Coronavirus outbreak and is urging the last remaining businesses to get in touch.
They wrote to all eligible businesses within the Carlisle area. Additional letters and emails have also been sent urging businesses to contact them with the necessary information to allow them to process the remaining grants. If you are a business that has not replied, please consider the following:
- It’s not a loan, you won’t be asked to pay it back.
- The grant payment won’t be made automatically, you need to contact us with your details.
- It’s not a scam – this grant funding is real.
- You may qualify for a grant, even if you receive 100% rate relief.
- Please respond as quickly as you can when we contact you asking for information. This will speed up the process.
Any business that has any concerns or has not received a letter, and thinks they are eligible, is asked to contact the City Council by emailing [email protected]
Within the letter they are asked to confirm some company details and send back the information electronically. The council needs this information to process the payment and to ensure that the funding goes to the right place. They want all eligible businesses to get access to the grants; they don’t want any business to miss out.
The grants have been provided to those businesses eligible for the government’s small business grant fund or the retail, leisure and hospitality grant. The level of grant is dependent on the rateable value of the business.
The council has followed government guidance regarding the business grants and to ensure that all eligible businesses access the grants as quickly as possible, they targeted their approach rather than asking businesses to apply. The government has made it clear that this is not an application process and that councils should be proactively contacting businesses that could access the funding.
Cllr John Mallinson, Leader of Carlisle City Council, said: “Our targeted approach has resulted in almost all the grants being allocated. Nearly £25 million has been awarded so far. We continue to send reminder letters and emails to eligible businesses and urge them to contact us and provide the necessary information.”
In addition to the grants, the City Council has also sent nil balance bills to businesses that are eligible for business rate relief under the expanded business rates relief scheme.
A new discretionary grants scheme has also been launched. Government guidance was received last week, and the council is currently assessing and will provide information on how to access the grant as soon as possible. Businesses that have already received funding through another government scheme will not be eligible.
They are also promoting other grant and funding opportunities on their website – www.carlisle.gov.uk
They are also searching out other funding opportunities which we are also promoting to partners. Their website provides up-to-date information on the government funding and is regularly updated when new schemes or guidance is provided.
They are working closely with Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Cumbria Tourism and Carlisle Ambassadors to support local businesses.
