The hospitality, tourism and retail sector, so hard hit by restrictions during the pandemic, has been given a double boost in Suffolk with the announcement of more financial help from both East Suffolk Council and the Chancellor’s Budget.
East Suffolk Council has launched a new £2 million Hospitality Payment scheme which will see a one-off grant of £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of under £15,000, £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 and £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000.
Businesses within the hospitality sector which have been identified as being eligible for this scheme should expect to receive an email which will require further action to receive the payment. These business fall into the following categories:
- Cafés
- Restaurants
- Coffee bars
- Ice cream parlours
- Public houses
- Public houses with restaurants
- Public houses with bed and breakfast accommodation
- Wedding and conference centres
- Nightclubs
- Social clubs
- Private members clubs
The Hospitality Payment comes in addition to the Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG), which have been available since the national lockdown in November 2020, and the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), which is available for those businesses who may fall outside the eligibility of the LRSG scheme.
New Round of LRSG Grants
The Council is also preparing to process the next round of business grant payments for the 44-day period up to 31 March for all eligible businesses. This will result in another £6m in support for businesses in East Suffolk.
Eligible businesses which have already received a LRSG payment do not need to do anything to receive the next round of grant payments, as the Council will make the payment automatically.
If your business is eligible for a grant and you have not yet applied for the LRSG scheme, please apply as soon as possible – and before 31 March which will be the closing date for the initial allocation of the grant schemes – at www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/business/covid-19-business-grant-funding
For more information on the Hospitality Payment and other available business grants, including the application form and eligibility details, go to www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/business/covid-19-business-grant-funding/
To find out more about the support and advice available to businesses, go to https://eastsuffolkmeansbusiness.co.uk/business-support/resources/smart-towns/
And There’s More…..
In addition the Chancellor yesterday announced a range of measures in his Budget to help business get back on their feet including:
- extending the business rates holiday until July and after that a 2/3rds discounts till next April
- VAT cut to five per cent for hospitality and tourism businesses will also remain until September. After that, it’ll increase to 12.5 per cent, before returning to 20 per cent in April 2022.
- A freeze in duty rates for beer, cider, wine and spirits, and fuel
- extension of the furlough scheme with the government paying 80% of wages up to end of June and then in July, August & September reducing the contribution to 70% and then 60%
And Restart grants to help the high street reopen
The government has announced an additional £5 billion grant scheme to help high street businesses reopen after lockdown.
Businesses eligible for the grant will including shops, salons, gyms, and restaurants.
As non-essential retail opens earlier, grants to those businesses will be worth up to £6,000.
With hospitality opening later, individual businesses could receive as much as £18,000.
The new ‘restart’ grant will be paid to businesses directly by ESC from April and replaces the currently monthly grant.
