02.04.20
Bradford Council pays out £20m under Small Business Grant Scheme
More than £20m has been delivered to businesses in the Bradford area through the Government’s Small Business Grant Fund.
Yesterday (Apr 1) saw one-off grants of £10,000 delivered to over 2,000 businesses to help them to survive this economically unstable period of time as the country tackles the coronavirus pandemic.
Ongoing business costs mean that companies that aren’t currently operating or operating at a much smaller capacity would struggle to get through this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty.
The announcement of business support came from Government last week, and since then Bradford Council has been working to identify the eligible parties in the area.
Funds were released to the local authority yesterday and the first payments were made the same day.
Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said:
“We understand that the coronavirus pandemic has made this a very difficult time for our businesses and we are committed to doing all we can to support them through the coming weeks and months.
“We have been collecting information from eligible business and we’re happy to report that the money from the Government came in to the council today, and we have been able to make the first payments today. Over 2,000 businesses in the district will receive the £10,000 grant and this should start to appear in their accounts in next few days.
“Council staff have been working hard to make sure those who qualify get the support they need. We have written to businesses about the grant and Business Rates Relief and would urge any business that hasn’t responded to the letter, to get in contact with the Council’s Business Rates Team, so that they can arrange for the payments to be made.”
Leader of the Council, Susan Hinchcliffe has urged businesses who think they are eligible for this support to contact the council to arrange payment.