Coronavirus lockdown: Government announces £4bn in grants for closed retail and hospitality firms
Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are set to receive a one-off grant of up to £9,000 per property to help them survive the latest coronavirus lockdown, the government announced this morning.
The new funding comes after the Prime Minister announced last night that the sectors would be forced to remain closed until at least mid-February in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
The chancellor said this morning that the grants are expected to benefit more than 600,000 business properties, and will be worth around £4bn across the UK.
Closed businesses in the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will be eligible to receive a grant of £4,000 during the latest coronavirus lockdown.
Businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 can apply for a £6,000 grant, while £9,000 will be available for properties with a rateable value of more than £51,000.
As business support is a devolved policy, central government will provide £375m in additional funding to the Scottish Government, £227m to the Welsh Government and £127m to the Northern Ireland Executive.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.
“Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the Spring.
“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”
The retail, leisure and hospitality sectors welcomed the new grants but said more government support is needed to prevent further closures and job losses.
EY UK & Ireland head of hospitality and leisure Christian Mole said: “The latest grants will only go a small way towards compensating for the loss of trading already incurred over the critical Christmas and New Year period in former Tier 3 and 4 areas, particularly for smaller businesses.
“It is surprising that there does not appear to be some differentiation in grant levels between those businesses in areas which were able to open through Christmas and those which were not.”
Ion Fletcher, director of finance policy at the British Property Federation, said business rates relief must be extended beyond the current March deadline.
“We welcome the latest package of support for the hospitality, leisure and retail businesses at the sharp end of the pandemic,” he said.
“However, as things stand, business rates relief for these sectors will expire at the end of March and it’s not clear what will happen after that.
“A return to full rates will be unaffordable for many and will lead to closures, so we would encourage the Government to commit to further rates support for businesses that continue to be affected by Covid-19.”