£129m Support Package for Nottingham Companies Begins

Around £500,000 will be paid out in small business grants today (Wednesday 8 April) with more to come over the following weeks. To pay grants, it is vital that those who have not already submitted an e-form for their grant do so as soon as possible to provide them with the support they are entitled to. Businesses who have filled in the online e-form will receive their grant allocation shortly. Those who have not filled this in yet have been strongly urged to do so on the City Council website.

The initial payments this week are part of an estimated £129m package of support due to be provided by the city council to businesses through Central Government grants, business rate relief, rural rate relief, council tax relief and other measures. The council is also lobbying government to provide support to other small businesses who fall outside the scope of the current grant system, such as those renting offices in a shared building or premises.

Meanwhile, the council is requesting additional funding from Central Government to support Nottingham’s economy once the pandemic is over to ensure Nottingham remains a thriving city. Work is underway to establish a long term plan to help the local economy recover once the current situation is resolved, ensuring Nottingham remains a great place to do business.

The council is also working with its suppliers by speeding up its internal processes to make payments as quickly as possible to those supporting our critical work during the pandemic.

Councillor Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Growth and the City Centre, said: “Nottingham City Council has started to make grant payments to thousands of small businesses that are such a big part of our city’s character and economy. This is part of the initial £129million package of support for the Nottingham economy.

“The Coronavirus pandemic has had a staggering impact nationally and we know our local businesses have felt that impact too. We are supporting eligible businesses with grant payments from funding provided by Central Government, as part of what I hope will be a comprehensive recovery package. It’s important that Nottingham’s economy can recover quickly and get back to business as usual when safe to do so and these measures are essential to that. The jobs and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of our residents relies upon it.

“We are continuing to press the Government for additional support to those businesses and individuals who have fallen through the gaps of the Government support provided so far. I must stress that to get this support to businesses, they absolutely must fill in the e-form on our website – we will process your claims as quickly as possible once we have a few details from you, and I strongly urge businesses to get this information to us so we can get this essential support to you.”