One week to go for business discretionary grant

 
East Cambridgeshire District Council is reminding businesses severely impacted by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions to apply for its discretionary funding before the deadline on 2nd December.   
 
Businesses which were legally required to close but who do not have a business rates assessment and businesses who haven’t legally been forced to close, but have been severely impacted by restrictions in place to control the spread of COVID-19 may be eligible for the Additional Restrictions Grant.
 
The grant consists of a one-off payment of £2,000 which will be paid to cover the 28-day period of the second national lockdown from 5th November to 2nd December 2020. 
 
Businesses deemed to be severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions include those where a considerable amount of revenue is associated with organisations who have been required to legally close, for example, the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors. As part of their application, businesses that fall within these criteria will need to be able to demonstrate that at least 75% of their revenue comes from these sectors. 
 
To be eligible for the Additional Restrictions Grant your business must operate in East Cambridgeshire and have been open before the restrictions came into force on 5th November. Businesses must also have relatively high ongoing fixed property costs, which can include rent or a mortgage for the business’ property and have experienced a significant loss of income directly related to the national lockdown restrictions. 
 
Businesses will be required to provide evidence of their fixed property costs and loss of income. 
 
Businesses not eligible for the Additional Restrictions Grant include:
organisations who are able to continue to trade, because they do not depend on providing direct in-person services from the premises and can operate their services effectively remotely
businesses that have chosen to close, but have not been required to close as directed by central government
businesses that were in administration, are insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made, are also not eligible for the grant. 
businesses which have already receive grant payments that equal the maximum levels of EU State Aid permitted under the De minimis and the COVID-19 Temporary State Aid Frameworks
 
Councillor David Brown, Chairman of the Finance and Assets Committee, said: 
 
“We hope that the Additional Restrictions Grant will help those businesses who have been severely impacted due to the restrictions of the latest lockdown. 
“To access this grant, business must come forward and apply, so please take a moment to review the criteria.
“Applications must be made by 5pm on Tuesday 2nd December, so if you believe that your business may be eligible, we are urging you to get in touch with the Council as soon as possible.”
 
To request an application form email covid19businessgrants@eastcambs.gov.uk or call 01353 665555. 
The deadline for applications is 2nd December 2020 at 5pm. 
 
After the closing date, if funds remain, the Council will review the scheme and open a further application round.
Businesses who have been legally forced to close and have a business rates account may be eligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grant. More information about this can be found on the Council’s Local Restrictions Support Grant webpage.  
 
Businesses who haven’t heard from the Council and think they might be eligible for the Local Restrictions Grant should contact the Council on 01353 665555 or via covid19businessgrants@eastcambs.gov.uk