Supporting our city’s businesses

Business grants

Since the government announced its business grants scheme, we have paid out £32.1m of an allocated  £73m to nearly 2,000 businesses and are on track to process a further 2,000 applications by the end of this week (1 May).

Getting the money out as quickly as possible is an absolute priority and we have trained 23 additional staff to join our business rates team so we can operate 7 days a week to clear all applications.

Despite having contacted every business we believe is eligible for a grant, there are still over 1,000 businesses who are yet to apply and we urge anyone who fits the government’s criteria, to please get in touch via our dedicated business grants portal.

A range of financial help

The government’s packages of support are a vital lifeline for many at this difficult time. We value all our businesses, freelancers and self-employed workers and we want to ensure they know about everything they’re entitled to so that they have the best chance of survival now and into the future.

Our staff are working hard to provide additional help where at all possible and anyone who is struggling to navigate the various schemes can check out our business support page and FAQs which have been designed to help them find what’s right for them.

Business networks

Officers are also working closely with business networks to ensure that they receive the latest information on support for business to share with their members; the council’s Covid 19 webpages contain additional and regularly updated information on government support measures, including a dedicated page for self-employed and freelancers in recognition of the high numbers in Brighton & Hove.

Last week, we also helped to highlight the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism to our visitor economy businesses so they can respond to a new inquiry to find out what businesses in this sector will need to help them reopen, recover, and thrive in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.

For more information or to take part in the survey please go to Pathways to Recovery. The deadline for responses is 1 May 2020 at 5pm.

Business pages

Our Covid-19 pages for businesses are:

We will continue to gather local intelligence to help inform our response to businesses and to eventual recovery and please be assured we will continue to do our best to leave no-one behind.

Councillor Nancy Platts

Leader of the Council

More about the government’s financial support for businesses

 

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