Pledge to get support to businesses

Around 2,500 businesses in Charnwood could be eligible for government support to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

Charnwood Borough Council, which will co-ordinate some of the support in the area, estimates it could end up distributing around £25 million in funding.

It follows the Government announcement about a range of measures to help businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic including through grants and business rates relief.

Cllr Jonathan Morgan, Leader of the Council, said: “We are acutely aware of the difficult times local businesses are facing and therefore we are working at pace to implement the support measures which have been set out by the government and will be delivered by this council.

“We can implement business rates relief automatically and we are finalising a process to ensure businesses can apply online for grant. This should speed up the process as we want to get businesses the support they need as fast as we can.”

The Council will be contacting some businesses, it is also creating an online form for businesses to contact them. The form will be live from Wednesday April 1. Businesses in Charnwood are urged to visit www.charnwood.gov.uk/coronavirusbusinesssupport

The Council is also suspending the collection of business rates by direct debit where the business qualifies for the business rates ‘holiday’ announced by government.