A number of support grants are available for a wide range of businesses impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. These include the Christmas Support Payment for pubs predominantly serving alcohol rather than food. Other grants remain open to businesses in the Dorset Council area which have been required to close during national or local restrictions, or which continue to be severely impacted by the pandemic. To find out which grant your business can claim go to www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-grants Councillor Gary Suttle, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy, said: “We want to remind Dorset businesses that financial support is available for them. If you run a business and have been affected by the current restrictions or previous lockdowns, a range of funding is available depending on your type of business.
Pubs which receive most of their income from drink sales can now apply for a new Covid-19 support grant. Under the current Tier 2 restrictions pubs can only open if they serve substantial meals meaning many pubs miss out on income. To help support businesses, the government is providing funding which is being administered locally by South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils. The Christmas Support Payment for Wet-Led Pubs is a new one-off grant which provides £1,000 to pubs which receive less than 50 per cent of their income from food sales, including those which serve substantial meals and are currently open.
Yellow lines will still be enforced by a council while some parking measures have been suspended under new Tier 4 restrictions. Watford Borough Council says it has made a few minor changes to the way it will carry out services as residents live under the toughest measures, effectively that of a lockdown. Below you can see what changes are being made by the council while Watford is in Tier 4 and what is staying the same.
Parking – Enforcement in Controlled Parking Zones and council owned car parks is suspended but enforcement for yellow lines on main roads, bus routes, at junctions and outside schools (while they are open) remains in place.
Real estate service provider Colliers International has urged the Government to take advantage of the European Union’s increase in State Aid limits due to Covid-19 to support the UK’s ailing hospitality sector.
Earlier this month, the European Commission confirmed that the UK can apply a revised Covid-19 State Aid Temporary Framework, which includes an increased limit from the original €800,000 (£731,160) threshold per company over three years to €3m (£2.7m).
According to the temporary framework, aid can be offered to companies facing shortages due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the form of direct grants, repayable advances and tax advantages.
The aid is granted to businesses that suffered a decline in turnover during the period between 1 March 2020 and 31 December 2020 of at least 30% compared to the same period in 2019.