Applications opened yesetrday (Monday) for the latest grant schemes to be administered by South Cambridgeshire District Council. The first is the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG). The second is further funding available via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). Full eligibility criteria, and online application forms, can be found on South Cambridgeshire District Council’s website at www.scambs.gov.uk/omicron-grants
Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant
The OHLG is targeted at businesses within the hospitality and leisure sector which were trading as registered Business Rates payers in South Cambridgeshire on 30 December 2021. These businesses could be eligible for a one-off payment because the rise of the Omicron variant led to severe impacts on their industry. Grants of up to £6,000 are available, depending on the rateable value of each business. Businesses in hospitality, leisure and tourism accommodation sectors, who offer in-person services (like food and drink, experiences and lodging for holiday purposes) are being encouraged to check the full eligibility criteria online to see whether they are eligible to apply. Eligible businesses should apply for these grants by 18 February 2022. Payments will be made by 31 March 2022.
Additional Restrictions Grant
The Council has decided to make best use of the ARG funding from Government by providing support to eligible businesses that do not have a rateable value, and / or are ineligible to receive the OHLG, but nonetheless operate in the supply chain to businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors. Businesses eligible to apply for the ARG should operate within:
Hospitality, leisure, accommodation, 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) gyms, and other businesses that may not have received other grant funding.
Grants of up to £10,000 will be provided under the ARG, depending on turnover, fixed costs, number of employees and the scale of loses due to Omicron.
Full eligibility criteria and an online application form can be found at www.scambs.gov.uk/omicron-grants and applications should be made by 18 February 2022. Final payments will be made by 31 March 2022.
Cllr Peter McDonald, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Business Recovery and Skills, said: “If you run a local business, especially in the hospitality and leisure trades, please check on our website now to see whether you are eligible for these latest COVID support grants. The sooner you get an application in, the sooner we can get it processed. Our teams have put an incredible amount of time and effort in during the past two years to get tens of millions of pounds in grants out to local businesses as soon as possible. We’ve moved quickly to draw-up policies and once again put all our systems in place to make the application process as quick and easy as possible – so if you run a local business, check this all online now. We’re doing all we can to help the local economy recover from COVID and prioritising the distribution of these grants is just the latest step.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the District Council has distributed a total of around £45 million in Government business support grants to more than 5,000 South Cambridgeshire businesses. Anyone needing advice relating to their business can contact the Council’s Business Support and Development team at openforbusiness@scambs.gov.uk or visit www.scambs.gov.uk/business