COVID-19 Business Hardship Fund Opened Tuesday, 20 October 2020, 9am.
This fund is provided by the Scottish Government and administered by Local Authorities.
The fund will support some businesses that remain open but are directly impacted by the restrictions, including those in the direct supply chains of firms that must close. This includes:
· Hospitality businesses and gyms unable to operate group classes who are required by the regulations to operate in a restricted way
· Producers/wholesale business supplying primarily perishable supplies to hospitality businesses required by the regulations to close or operate in a restricted way, and who are able to evidence a 25% reduction in turnover during the brake period
Business Support Fund provided by the Scottish Government and administered by Aberdeen City Council. The fund will provide £1million to support one-off grants to Aberdeen city businesses directly impacted by the local restrictions implemented on 5 August 2020.
The general fund is is restricted to hospitality businesses specified in the local lockdown regulations.
The Discretionary Scheme is for business premises that have seen a downturn in trade specifically due to restrictions impacting footfall and customer ability to travel to attend appointments or bookings.
The Discretionary Scheme is open to any Aberdeen city business which was open through the local lockdown that can demonstrate loss of business as direct result of the restrictions being in place. Please click here for full criteria & application form.
Applications to the General fund closed Monday, 19 October 2020 Applications to the Discretionary fund remain open until 5pm, Tuesday, 3 November 2020 ______________________________________________________________
Bed & Breakfast Fund The purpose of this fund is to provide hardship relief grants of £3,000 to bed and breakfasts and small serviced accommodation providers who have not been able to access support through other schemes as a result of their banking status. That is, this scheme is explicitly aimed at providing support to the business types mentioned above operating with only a personal or joint personal bank account, rather than a business bank account.
CLOSED - this fund closed to new applications on 10th July 2020
Business Support Fund provided by the Scottish Government and administered by local authorities: • If you are eligible for either the Small Business Bonus or Rural Relief schemes, you may also be eligible for an additional £10,000 grant from the Scottish Government • If your property has a rateable value between £18,000 and £51,000 you may be eligible for a £25,000 hospitality, leisure and retail property grant
Extension to grant schemes From May 2020, eligibility to the small business support grant scheme has been extended to include: • Ratepayers with multiple properties (only in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors) with individual rateable values under £18,000 but whose cumulative rateable value is between £35,000 and £51,000 • Those eligible for SBBS but in receipt of Nursery Relief, Disabled Relief, Fresh Start Relief, Business Growth Accelerator Relief, Discretionary Sports Relief, or Charitable Rates Relief. • Small properties in enterprise areas that are eligible for SBBS but are in receipt of enterprise area relief
From 8 June 2020, the business support grant schemes have been extended further, extending the eligibility of the current small business and retail, hospitality and leisure grants to businesses that occupy multiple premises with a cumulative rateable value up to £500,000 (Previously restricted to £51,000). Also, to businesses occupying premises, but where they are not the ratepayer. This grant is called the tenant/occupier grant.
Tenant/occupier grant The grant is available to those businesses who occupy shared office spaces, business incubators, shared industrial units and the like and where the landlord is the ratepayer. You must meet qualifying criteria if you wish to apply: • you must lease space from a landlord who is the registered ratepayer for the property • have a signed lease, which was in force prior to 17th March 2020 • be a registered business or partnership • employ at least one person • have a business bank account
CLOSED - these funds closed to new applications on 10th July 2020
• All businesses in the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors will be eligible for one year’s 100% non-domestic rates relief from 1st April 2020. You do not need to apply for this, it will be automatically applied when your rates bill is raised.
Contact Aberdeen City Council's Business Rates team: 01224 346146 Contact Aberdeenshire Council's Business Rates team: 01346 415824
