Luton Borough Council
22/02/2022 - Luton businesses to be provided support through council grant scheme
Further government funding is now available to help businesses with the opening of a new discretionary grant.
Businesses that have been severely impacted by restrictions due to the pandemic, or by the Omicron variant but do not qualify for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant can apply for the new scheme. Aimed at supporting businesses with less than 250 employees, including those outside of the business rates system it will help those that fall within the following sectors
- hospitality,
- accommodation,
- leisure, personal care, the travel and tourism sector, including group travel, travel agents and tour operators, coach operators,
- wedding industries, nightclubs, theatres, events industries,
- wholesalers, English language schools, breweries,
- freelance and mobile businesses (including caterers, events, hair, beauty and wedding related businesses),
- gyms and sports businesses (including dance and fitness studios; sports centres and clubs; sports courts; swimming pools and golf courses)
The grants are one off payments, payable per business and have been split into three levels, £2,667, £4,000, or £6,000 depending on amount of employees. The scheme is open until 13 March 2022, however these grants will be awarded on a first come first served approach, so businesses are being urged to apply as soon as possible.
Cllr Sian Goding portfolio holder responsible for Regeneration and Inclusive Growth at Luton Council said, “Using our allocation of the latest ARG funding from government we have designed a scheme to help businesses that have not been able to benefit from the Omicron grant which launched earlier this year.
“We have already awarded 10,920 Government business grants totalling almost £56m to local impacted businesses since the start of the pandemic as well as developing a specific programme to target support to a range of businesses in Luton.
“It’s absolutely vital that we do all we can to support our local businesses to help them stay afloat if suffering but also so they can hopefully grow – this is so important as part of our longer term plan to deliver on our inclusive economy ambitions”.
The Omicron hospitality and leisure grant, which opened earlier this year, supports businesses that offer in-person services within a fixed business rate-paying premise offers a one-off payment of up to £6,000. Applications close 28 February so eligible businesses are being urged to apply to avoid missing out.
The business support programme, which includes advice, guidance, training and small grants, and is being delivered through a number of local partners is also still running with some of the schemes open until end of March.
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