Support grants bring help to businesses in the Lancaster district

Small businesses across the Lancaster district that are in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors can now apply for government grants to support them through the coronavirus crisis.

Grants of £25,000 are available to businesses in these sectors that have a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000, and £10,000 for those with a rateable value of £15,000 or under.

Lancaster City Council is now in the process of writing to all those that may be eligible to encourage them to apply.

Applications can be made using an online form which is available at lancaster.gov.uk/rhl-grant.

Applicants will need their business rates number and other supporting information to make an application.

Anyone that does not know their business rates number should email the business rates team directly at lccnndr@preston.gov.uk.

Eligibility for the grant can be checked at www.businesssupport.gov.uk/cash-grant-for-retail-hospitality-and-leisure.

Councillor Dr Erica Lewis, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “We know how hard this crisis is hitting our local businesses and the city council is working hard to ensure they receive the support they need and deserve.

“To speed up processing, it's helpful if businesses apply via our website. This allows us to process the claim faster and to get their payments made more quickly."

Nearly £10million has so far been distributed by the council to local businesses through the various business grant schemes that have been made available.

Businesses with a rateable value of less than £15,000, and not in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector, may be eligible for £10,000 grants if they were registered for Small Business Rate Relief, or Rural Rate Relief, and trading on March 11.

Any that have not yet applied can also do so online at Lancaster.gov.uk/sbrrgrant.

For specific queries on the grants and other support that is available to businesses, contact the dedicated business support team at econdev@lancaster.gov.uk. If you do not have access to email contact Customer Services on 01524 582000.

Businesses can also sign-up to receive updates on the support available to them at lancaster.gov.uk/covid19support.

Last updated: 07 April 2020