BRADFORD Council is urging eligible businesses to apply for the government’s Additional Restrictions Grant which closes on Friday. The authority has recently paid over £30m in Local Restrictions Grants to local rate paying businesses which have been forced to close. Under the Additional Restrictions Grant, discretionary funding was provided to local authorities to support businesses that were not eligible for a Local Restrictions Support Grant. In Bradford, the scheme has been designed to support non-essential retail, hospitality and leisure sector business that are operating in shared premises or where the landlord is liable to pay Business Rates. It was also targeted to supply chain businesses. These businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic because they wholly or exclusively supply businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, events or leisure sectors. The grant also targets self-employed businesses unable to access other government Covid support.
Bradford’s politicians have expressed concerns over job predictions for the district POLITICIANS have warned the Government of a clear and unequal impact on Bradford s industries as research shows 11,000 workers are at risk of unemployment due to the pandemic. Professor Marc Cowling, University of Derby, and Professor Ross Brown, University of St. Andrews, examined the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the 100 largest cities and towns in the UK. The data shows that 1,353 businesses in Bradford are at immediate risk of failing as they run out of cash. This scale of business failures in Bradford would put 11,862 workers into unemployment with little chance of finding a new job.