Businesses are due to receive cash from the latest round of Government lockdown grants on Wednesday – as City of York Council works to get funding out to those who need it within days of the money being announced.
More businesses could qualify for cash – including York-licensed taxi drivers, market traders, B&Bs and hotels that pay council tax rather than business rates, and companies that trade almost exclusively in the city but whose owners are not residents.
The council says hundred of payments will be made next Wednesday – following £14.5 million of Government grants that were issued in York on Friday.
It means the authority will have processed all payments for businesses which are known to be eligible for local or lockdown restrictions grants until February 15.
The Additional Restrictions Grant payments, designed for businesses that are not forced to close but are severely disrupted by lockdown, should be completed next week.
Councillor Andrew Waller said: “Making sure grants get to businesses as quickly and simply as possible has been central to our pandemic response. This protects jobs, the supply chain and the city’s wider economy.
“We’ve also been listening to the city’s businesses and shaped grant schemes to support those which miss out. The Additional Restrictions Grant has helped hundreds of York businesses not forced to close but whose income is devastated by the restriction.”
He urged anyone who has missed out on grants and should be eligible for funding to email [email protected]
Councillor Nigel Ayre added: “We promised York businesses that our team were once again ready to get grants paid faster than the rest of the country.
“Having received the government guidance and funding on Wednesday, the payments have been processed without the need to apply within 48 hours and will be in business bank accounts by Wednesday.”
Apply for a grant, even if your business has never applied for one before, at the City of York Council website.