Small businesses to benefit from Discretionary Grants

Following further Government announcements TDC has quickly organised to launch an additional package of funding aimed at helping small and micro businesses. Importantly, this includes all those that have not been eligible for any other grant, with the exception of the self‐employed income support scheme or the furloughed Job Retention Scheme, and who were trading on 11 March 2020.

One of the key criteria for eligibility are businesses who have high ongoing fixed property related costs and who can show that they have suffered a major fall in income due to the COVID‐19 crisis.

Grants will range from £1,000 to £25,000 with all businesses required to meet the same evidence based tests of need. The following business types will be prioritised for funding support, in line with criteria set out by the government:

• small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces
• regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment
• Bed and Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates; and
• charity properties in receipt of Charitable Business Rates Relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief

Each local council also has the discretion to extend their grants to business sectors in their area which they feel need additional support in the interim. The local priority sectors for Northern Devon (North Devon and Torridge Districts) are:

• manufacturing
• food and Drink
• creative Industries – including digital
• businesses who operate in, or whose main or sole customer base is those in retail, hospitality or leisure

Those not eligible for funding under this scheme include:

• businesses who were not trading on 11 March 2020
• businesses currently in administration or insolvent
• businesses eligible for other Government funding schemes

Councillor Ken James – Leader of Torridge District Council said:

"We are glad that through this latest initiative we will be able to provide further, much needed support, to important sectors of our local economy. We are expecting there to be a large demand for funding and therefore to ensure the money is shared fairly, we will be accepting applications in three separate trances. Businesses not successful in the first rounds, will be rolled forward for another chance until all of the funds have been allocated. As before our teams will be working as quickly as possible to allocate and pay out funds as we appreciate the money will be vitally important to anybody applying. Hopefully this will sustain many more businesses through these difficult times.”

Applications for funding will open on 1st June 2020 and close on 3rd July 2020.

For more information and to apply for the grant please go to Torridge District Council's website www.torridge.gov.uk