Sefton Council is urging businesses to apply for the latest round of financial support through the Hospitality, Leisure and Retail Grants (Expanded Scheme) which opens today (Monday 30th November).
National lockdown and local restrictions have had a significant impact on many businesses in Sefton and the Liverpool City Region. Some have benefitted from national support schemes.
Other businesses such as non-essential retail, the self-employed, sole traders, licensed market traders and limited companies based at home who predominantly supply the hospitality and leisure sectors haven’t met the criteria and have not received any financial support.
The Hospitality, Leisure and Retail Grants (Expanded Scheme) will be open for applications that meet the eligibility criteria from 11am on Monday 30th November and close at 5pm on Friday 11th December 2020.
The first round of funding has already seen over £1 million of grant assistance paid to 152 Sefton businesses.
Councillor Ian Maher, Leader of Sefton Council, said: “We have seen the impact of the pandemic on our local economy with businesses forced to close at various stages over the past nine months. This latest round of funding aims to help those businesses who have been unable to access other national support schemes by providing financial support to enable them to continue trading.”
Businesses must be based in Sefton, or one of the other Liverpool City Region local authority areas. The grants are simple to apply for and businesses will not have to repay them.
To find out more about the eligibility criteria and how to apply, businesses should visit the Sefton Council website: https://www.sefton.gov.uk/covid19business
Cllr Maher added: “We recognise the key contribution these businesses make to the Sefton economy and we urge all that fall into these categories to follow the simple processes that are in place so that they can receive these grants as quickly as possible.”
Ongoing business support and advice for all businesses across Sefton is available via InvestSefton, which leads on the council’s business support. It has dedicated information available on all of the latest Covid-19 updates and support available to businesses in Sefton. To access this information visit: www.investsefton.com
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