Coronavirus Business Support Grants

Business grants update - 4th March 2021

Businesses forced to close under local and national Covid-19 restrictions from mid-December 2020 onwards, need to apply just once to claim their entitlement up to 31st March 2021. This single application form is available here.

A business entitled to a Local Restrictions Support Grant under the national lockdown arrangements effective from 5th January 2021 will also be eligible to receive a single lump sum payment.

The Government recently announced a further grant payment for eligible businesses that will be payable for the period 16th February 2021 to 31st March 2021.

You do not need to apply again for this – we will use information from your original application form and the payment will be made automatically.

We anticipate being able to process most applications received in January 2021, where all the required information is available, by mid-March 2021. Most February applications should be completed by mid-April 2021.

At the budget on 3rd March 2021, the Government announced the provision of “restart grants” in England of up to £6,000 for each property used by non-essential retail businesses and £18,000 for each property used by hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses.  Further details regarding the announcement will be given in due course.  

Please continue to check this page regularly for further updates. Relevant policies in relation to the grants will also be available on our business rates relief page.

Confirmation of State aid received under the Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Authorities measure and Undertaking in Difficulty Status

Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the European Commission has approved schemes to aid businesses affected by the Coronavirus outbreak on the basis of their Temporary Framework, including the Covid-19 Temporary Framework measure for the UK.

The maximum level of aid that a company may receive under section 3.1 of the Temporary Framework is €800 000 (€120,000 per undertaking active in the fishery and aquaculture sector or €100,000 per undertaking active in the primary production of agricultural products).

This is across all UK measures under the terms of the European Commission’s Temporary Framework. For aid for uncovered fixed costs under Section 3.12 of the Temporary Framework, the maximum level of aid is €3 million.

The Euro equivalent of the Sterling aid amount is calculated using the Commission exchange rate applicable on the date the aid is offered.

Any aid provided under this measure will be relevant if you wish to apply, or have applied, for any other aid granted based on the European Commission’s Temporary Framework.

You will need to declare this amount to any other aid awarding body who requests information from you on how much aid you have received. You must retain this letter for four years after the conclusion of the UK’s transition from the EU and produce it on any request from the UK public authorities or the European Commission.

Aid may be granted to undertakings that were not in difficulty (within the meaning of Article 2(18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation 30) on 31 December 2019, but that faced difficulties or entered in difficulty thereafter as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

This aid is in addition to any aid that you may be have received under the De Minimis regulation allowing aid of up to €200,000 to any one organisation over a three fiscal year period (i.e. your current fiscal year and previous two fiscal years), and any other approved aid you have received under other State aid rules, such as aid granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation. Aid for uncovered fixed costs under Section 3.12 of the Temporary Framework shall not be cumulated with other aid for the same eligible costs.

Undertakings in Difficulty Assessment

Source: Section 2(18) General Block Exemption Regulations

(18) ‘undertaking in difficulty’ means an undertaking in respect of which at least one of the following circumstances occurs:

(a) In the case of a limited liability company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME within 7 years from its first commercial sale that qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its subscribed share capital has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses. This is the case when deduction of accumulated losses from reserves (and all other elements generally considered as part of the own funds of the company) leads to a negative cumulative amount that exceeds half of the subscribed share capital. For the purposes of this provision, ‘limited liability company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex I of Directive 2013/34/EU (1) and ‘share capital’ includes, where relevant, any share premium.

(b) In the case of a company where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company (other than an SME that has been in existence for less than three years or, for the purposes of eligibility for risk finance aid, an SME within 7 years  from its first commercial sale that qualifies for risk finance investments following due diligence by the selected financial intermediary), where more than half of its capital as shown in the company accounts has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses. For the purposes of this provision, ‘a company where at least some members have unlimited liability for the debt of the company’ refers in particular to the types of company mentioned in Annex II of Directive 2013/34/EU.

(c) Where the undertaking is subject to collective insolvency proceedings or fulfils the criteria under its domestic law for being placed in collective insolvency proceedings at the request of its creditors.

(d) Where the undertaking has received rescue aid and has not yet reimbursed the loan or terminated the guarantee or has received restructuring aid and is still subject to a restructuring plan.

(e) In the case of an undertaking that is not an SME, where, for the past two years:
(1) the undertaking's book debt to equity ratio has been greater than 7,5 and
(2) the undertaking's Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) interest coverage ratio has been below 1,0.

Further details on State Aid can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/state-aid