First Restart Grants are paid to businesses in Birmingham
Birmingham City Council has started to process the first Restart Grants to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries a week after they reopened their doors to the public.
Following the end of the Local Government Restriction Grants, the council was awarded £55.2m in Government funding to support approximately 7,500 businesses across the city as they welcomed their first customers in four months.
One-off grants of up to £6,000 are available for non-essential retail businesses whilst businesses providing hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym services will receive a single grant of up to £18,000.
Jonathan Woodward, Head of Revenues said: “Upon receiving the funding from Government, we have been required to undertake additional assurance checks before paying the grants. We are pleased to be preparing to make the first payments shortly. It’s important for businesses to note that if they have previously received any grant funding they do not need to apply as we will automatically administer payments and any duplicate applications could delay the process.”
The implementation of the Restart Grants follows the end of the Local Government Restriction Support grant scheme which were administered to businesses during lockdown and the tier restrictions and closed to new applicants on 31 March 2021.
The grants will be paid to the named rate payer on the business rates and will vary on the rateable value of the business premises as of 1 April 2021.
Non-essential retail businesses occupying premises with a rateable value of £15,000 or less will receive a payment of £2,667 whilst those with a value of between £15,000and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £4,000.
Grants of £6,000 will be paid to non-essential retail businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000.
For businesses in offering hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym services with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, they will receive a grant of £8,000 whilst those with a rateable value of between £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a payment of £12,000.
The maximum grant value of £18,000 will be paid to businesses across the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym services with a rateable value of over £51,000.
It is expected to take a number of weeks for Birmingham City Council to administer all payments so businesses are advised check the website regularly before contacting the council for updates as this could delay the process.
For more information on Restart Grants, including a full list of eligible and non-eligible businesses, visit the business support pages.
