Grants for Mid Sussex businesses ineligible for previous support

The pandemic and subsequent lockdown has had a massive impact on Mid Sussex's economy

Back in March ministers unveiled a scheme to provide grants to businesses in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief and those working in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

Those grants are to help businesses meet the ongoing premises related costs and challenges they are facing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and are still available to qualifying applicants.

So far, Mid Sussex District Council has distributed more than £24million to almost 1,900 business but there are many more who do not qualify for this support and are in desperate need of financial help.

The Government has now allocated Mid Sussex District Council £1.4 million to help support businesses that were not eligible for the original grant.

The council has been asked by the Government to prioritise the following types of business for this funding, subject to eligibility:

• Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces

• Regular market traders with fixed stall locations who do not have their own business rates assessment and have their main domestic residence in Mid Sussex

• Bed & Breakfasts which pay council tax instead of business rates

• Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief

• Businesses in the supply chain to the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality sectors that did not qualify for the original government business grants but pay business rates or have other property costs

• Businesses that did not qualify for the original government business grants but pay onerous business rates or have relatively high property costs

• Businesses which may have qualified for a business grant but are waiting for a business rate valuation decision from the independent Valuation Office

Applications are open to businesses outside of the categories listed above but will only be considered once these priority applications have been processed.

Businesses are encouraged to apply for funding online at www.grantapproval.co.uk and applications must be received by midnight on Sunday June 14.

All applications will be assessed as quickly as possible after the closing date.

Stephen Hillier, cabinet Member for economic growth, said: “We welcome this additional financial support from Central Government for our local businesses who have been hit so hard by this dreadful pandemic. However, we expect demand for this support to be extremely high, possibly over-subscribed, and so it will be important for us to assess each application against the set criteria swiftly and in an equitable manner.

“I urge every business that applies for this grant to provide us with as much information as possible about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected your business. Please provide evidenced details about the costs you are facing, of your lost income and information about your employees and how this funding could help you to protect local jobs.

“We’re aiming to support as many small business in our district as possible to ensure they continue to help the local economy post Covid-19 but there is a limited amount of money available for this scheme and once it has been allocated the scheme will close.

“If your small business is struggling due to this coronavirus pandemic and you haven’t been able to obtain support from the Government through previous schemes then please submit your application now at www.grantapproval.co.uk”

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