The government is making additional funding available so smaller businesses can be supported. This funding is available to businesses within the West of England authority.
The funding is capped at £5,000 to provide support to as many businesses as possible.
Businesses that are eligible for other grants from the government as a result of COVID-19, such as the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund will not eligible for this grant.
You can however still apply if your businesses is seeking forms of support, such as the Bounce Back Loan, Self-Employed Income Support Scheme or Job Retention Scheme.
Who is Eligible?
The West of England authorities (Bath & North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire Council) will prioritise grants for these types of businesses:
- Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspace, such as units in industrial or science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment
- Regular market or street traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment
- Bed and Breakfasts and guest houses which pay council tax instead of business rates
- Charity properties receiving charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief
Other Businesses That May Apply
You may still apply if your business is not on the list above but does fulfil all of the following categories:
- Businesses which occupy a property, or part of a property, with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000
- Businesses which can demonstrate that they have suffered a minimum 60% fall in income, due to the COVID-19 crisis.
- Businesses with 49 or less employees
- Businesses that were trading on or before 11 March 2020
The Authority will assess applications based on local economic need.
Additional Criteria
Your business must be located in the Bristol City Council area. If your business is located in Bristol, but you trade in other local authorities across the West of England you are only entitled to one grant.
To check your Business Postcode, click here.
The Authorities will also use the following criteria to see if your business is eligible:
- Your ongoing fixed building-related costs, such as rent, service charges and council tax
- The size of your business, which must have had 49 or less employees in the last six months up to March 11 2020
- Whether you were still trading on 11 March 2020 and you occupy a property with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000
How to Apply
You can apply from Wednesday 27 May to midnight on Monday 8 June 2020.
You will need to provide:
- The company registration number or charity number
- Your VAT registration number
- Your business rate or council tax account number if relevant
- Your bank account details
- A photo ID of the company director or liable party for the lease agreement or named charity secretary
You will also need to write a statement explaining how your business was affected and attach either:
- Your income and expenditure accounts
- Business bank statements showing the three months from February to April 2020 and corresponding period from 2019 if available
To apply for the grant, click here.
The Authority will aim to make final award decisions by Monday 15 June 2020.
This is a discretionary fund and as such there will be no right of appeal against a decision on eligibility or the level of grant, if any, awarded.
If your application is successful, you should get a transfer to your bank account by end of June.
For further information, visit the bristol.gov.uk website or contact us directly on 01454 619900. We are here to help.