Leeds grants to help businesses survive

Leeds City Council has assured businesses that it stands ready to help them through the financial challenges posed by the latest stage of the country’s efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Janet Harrison
Published 26th Jan 2021, 11:13 GMT
Picture by Simon HulmePicture by Simon Hulme
Picture by Simon Hulme

The council has already distributed around £170m to thousands of businesses across the city since the start of the crisis last year.

Now, following the introduction of a new national lockdown, a further £30.2m is landing in applicants’ bank accounts from today onwards.

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Grants worth up to £1,500 per fortnight are on offer to ratepayers whose businesses were forced to close when lockdown kicked in on January 5.

An additional one-off payment for eligible ratepayers in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors and covering the period from January 5 to February 16 is worth between £4,000 and £9,000, depending on the rateable value of their premises.

To simplify matters, the first three fortnightly instalments – covering the initial six weeks of the current lockdown – are being given out as a lump sum with the one-off payment. Together, these account for nearly all of the £30.2m being distributed this week, with a total of 4,221 grants having been approved.

Coun Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “From the start of the pandemic, the council has made it clear that it will do everything in its power to help local businesses cope with the financial effects of the restrictions that have been put in place to save lives and protect the NHS.

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“The last 10 months have been incredibly hard for our businesses and that’s why it is so important that these much-needed funds are going out this week.

“There may now be light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the continuing vaccine rollout programme, but the struggle is far from over. Businesses in Leeds can rest assured that we will continue to make every effort to get them through the crisis.”

Grants are also still available to help ratepayers who had to close their businesses during the national lockdown that ran from November 5 to December 2 or as a result of the Tier 3 restrictions that were in place in Leeds from December 2 to January 4.

Businesses that have previously applied for a grant to cover November’s lockdown period do not need to submit a request for one of the January payments.

For more visit: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/grants-for-businesses.

Related topics:LeedsLeeds City CouncilNHS