Published on Wednesday 15 April 2020
In less than three weeks, nearly 2200 businesses across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have received grants totalling £30 million from BCP Council to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.
The Council received £128 million from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government at the end of March as part of the Small Business Grants Fund and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund schemes. All the businesses on the Council’s records which met the eligibility criteria for these grants were contacted within the first week of the funding announcement and an online e-form has since been set up to enhance the application process.
Providing all the information supplied within the application is accurate, the Council aims to make payments within 7 working days. Additional resources were also allocated over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend to support the processing of applications. In some cases, businesses will receive a request to provide further information to enable payment.
Councillor Vikki Slade, Leader of BCP Council, said:
"We’ve received thousands of applications and our Business Rates Team have been working diligently to process these as quickly as possible. We understand this is a difficult time for businesses and want to remind those who have not yet applied to check they are eligible and apply as soon as possible. We also appreciate that this funding does not cover all business sectors and we will continue to lobby the Government for further support.’’
Businesses who have not yet applied can check their eligibility before applying. The criteria and the forms are available on the Council’s website.
For more information, please click here.