Along with the government providing one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England, around 200,000 businesses will be eligible for business grants which will be administered by local authorities.
£170 million has been given in grants for businesses in the South East and London and this includes West Berkshire Council and Slough Council.
West Berkshire Council
West Berkshire Council are inviting local businesses to apply for grant funding from a new scheme called the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Challenge Fund, which supports environmentally friendly economic recovery and growth.
Through the Challenge Fund businesses, whether a sole trader or a limited company, will be able to apply for grants ranging from £5,000 to £25,000 to pay for projects that help the business to recover and grow in an environmentally friendly way. Grants will be paid upfront to successful applicants.
They hope to see innovative, high-impact proposals which will have a significant impact on ensuring local businesses can continue to thrive and work better for the future as we come out of the pandemic. Improvements such as new equipment to drive expansion, sustainable energy systems, or developing a website that reaches new customers are just a few ideas that local businesses can implement under this funding.
The deadline for the ARG has now passed but applications to the Hardship Support can be made until 14 March 2022
Slough Council
Slough Borough Council has given notice of a further window of applications for Discretionary Grants for businesses that continue to be affected by COVID. The Discretionary Grants application is now open and closes at 4pm on 18th Feb 2022.
The grant is for businesses whose trading was affected by COVID-19, who were trading pre-COVID and have continued to trade.
Bracknell Forest Council
The Additional Restrictions Grant is aimed at businesses that have been significantly financially impacted due to the Governments response in December 2021, to the new COVID-19 Omicron variant, introducing international travel restrictions and implementing the Governments Plan B.
Wokingham Borough Council
Wokingham Borough Council have been awarded funding of £377,307 to provide continued support to businesses severely impacted by coronavirus restrictions and the rise of the Omicron variant.