Firms need inside track to Government’s plan for coming out of national lockdown

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 5 January 2021

UPDATED: 5 January 2021

Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 to help them get through the latest coronavirus lockdown.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also made a £594m discretionary fund available to support other impacted businesses. It comes in addition to £1.1bn of further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month, and the extension of furlough scheme

This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that most businesses will be closed until at least February half-term in order to help control the virus.

The cash will be provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions, and is expected to benefit over 600,000 business properties, worth £4bn across the UK.

Under the latest lockdown rules, all non-essential retail, hospitality and personal care services must close, or remain closed. Restaurants can continue delivery, takeaway or click-and-collect of food and non-alcoholic drinks, but venues will no longer be able to serve takeaway or click-and-collect alcohol.

Essential shops and garden centres can remain open.

Entertainment venues and animal attractions such as zoos must close, but the outdoor areas of venues such as heritage homes and botanical gardens can remain open, to be used for exercise. 

Responding to the lockdown announcement, East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) chief executive Scott Knowles said: “After a desperate 2020 for businesses and communities, a third national lockdown is another devastating blow to business confidence as it follows hard on the heels of lost trade during the festive season – not to mention the uncertainty that prevailed up until the eleventh hour of the Brexit transition period.

“The Government’s need to act in the face of spiralling threat to public health is obviously understood but after already spending billions on helping good firms to survive this crisis and save jobs, it must not let these companies fail now when the vaccine rollout provides light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

“The Chancellor’s announcement today of a one-off £9,000 grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will hopefully help keep their heads above water for a couple more months, but Westminster must remember financial support – while certainly welcomed and required – is no substitute for a fully open economy that allows businesses to generate their own revenue.

“It’s now time for the Government to open the lines of communication with businesses by sharing its plan for how the brakes will be lifted on the economy over the coming months to allow businesses to plan properly.”

Image CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Number 10

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