Restart grants launched in all Cumbria areas

Restart grants from the government for non-essential businesses across Cumbria that have been hard-pressed due to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are now live.

Open to all businesses that have been affected, the government grants will be administered separately by each district and borough council.

The scheme is broken down into two strands with the first supporting businesses in non-essential retail and the second helping those in the hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors.

The grant amounts will be a one-off payment for each eligible property, based on their rateable value with a maximum eligible amount available either at £6,000 or £18,000.

In Strand One, businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or below will receive £2,667, a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive £4,000 and a rateable value of £51,000 or over will receive £6,000.

In Strand Two, businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or below will receive £8,000, a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive £12,000 and a rateable value of £51,000 or over will receive £18,000.

The scheme, worth £5 billion across England, was announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in his March budget and has been slowly rolled out by local authorities throughout April.

With each council administering the grants separately, Small Business Minister Paul Scully and Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston have written to 314 authorities in England asking them to pay out the grants funding as quickly as possible.

Breakdown per authority in Cumbria:

  • Allerdale borough businesses are encouraged to visit the council’s website to find out more information and apply through the online form here
  • Barrow borough businesses can find out the relevant information and apply through the online form here
  • Carlisle City Council has confirmed through a spokeswoman that they are not seeking applications from businesses but will be making automatic payments to more than 1,000 qualifying companies that confirm they’re happy to receive the grant. More information can be found here
  • Copeland borough businesses can find out more about restart grants and apply here
  • Eden district businesses can access all information relating to restart grants, along with the application form here
  • South Lakeland district businesses can find all information relating to restart grants, along with the application form here

You can find out more about which businesses are eligible on the government website with additional information here.

Due to the government increasing the number of checks required for funding, before any payment is made, eligible businesses applying for the grant will have to provide the following:

  • A copy of their business rates bill to hand and upload a recent bank statement when making their application.
  • The date that their business was established.
  • The cumulative total of all business support grants their business has received.

Please note that if businesses provide incomplete or inaccurate information, this may cause unnecessary delays in grants being paid by councils.

** Cumbria Chamber’s Covid toolkit is updated regularly with the latest information on grants, loans, Covid restrictions and safe working. Keep checking it for the latest information.

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