Council preparing to hand over millions of pounds of grant funding to businesses

Tamworth Borough Council is contacting hundreds of businesses ready to start administering millions of pounds worth of grant funding from the Government.

The council’s economic development and revenues teams are currently sorting through the database of local businesses which could be eligible for grants of either £10,000 or £25,000 from the government’s coronavirus support packages.

Various details are required from businesses to enable grants to be processed and any businesses that think they might be eligible in line with the criteria below, are asked to visit the website at www.tamworth.gov.uk/small-business-grant-fund, fill in the online form at the bottom of the page and email it to covid-grants@tamworth.gov.uk.

Grants will be paid directly to those listed as the liable ratepayers in the Tamworth Borough Council system as of March 11th 2020.

Small Business Grants
Under the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF), all businesses in England in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) and Rural Rates Relief (RRR) will be eligible for a payment of £10,000 in line with the eligibility criteria. This includes those with a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 which receive tapered relief.

Businesses can find out if they are eligible for a Small Business Grant by checking their latest Business Rates bill to see if they qualified for Small Business Rates Relief. If they did, then the grant should apply.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant
Under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant (RHLG), businesses in England in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for the following cash grants per property:

£10,000 for eligible businesses with a property that has a rateable value of up to £15,000 and not receiving a Small Business Grant.
£25,000 for eligible businesses with a property that has a rateable value of between £15,001 and less than £51,000.

Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses which have been receiving the Expanded Retail Discount will also be eligible for cash grants. However, this scheme has been recently extended and criteria are changing constantly. Therefore you may be eligible even if you haven’t received this in your bills yet. To check the current list of businesses which are included please visit the Government website here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-retail-discount-guidance

Tamworth Borough Council officers will be contacting all businesses which may be eligible via phone, email and letters, depending on the information we hold on our systems. However, it could be that contact details are not up to date – for example, if people are working from home instead of their usual business address.

For that reason, all businesses which think they may be eligible are urged to fill in the online form and help speed up the process.
If you think you are eligible, please then fill out the form on our website at www.tamworth.gov.uk/small-business-grant-fund.

Only businesses listed as the liable ratepayers will be eligible for the grants.

Business Rates Holiday
The Government has also announced that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will not have to pay Business Rates for the 2020/21 tax year. This includes occupied properties such as shops, gyms, theatres, hotels and museums with a rateable value under £51,000.

The council will be issuing updated bills to eligible businesses in due course. To see if you are eligible, visit the Government guidance here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-retail-discount-guidance.

Other support
A variety of support packages have been announced by the Government which may be applicable to non rate-paying businesses. These include the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Statutory Sick Pay Rebate.

More information on the schemes available is detailed on the Government’s new dedicated Coronavirus Business Support website: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.
Any local businesses which need further help or guidance can contact Tamworth Borough Council’s business support team at business@tamworth.gov.uk.