Council increases size of grants available from Covid-19 financial support scheme

Cheshire East Council has increased the amount of support available to businesses from the Business Interruption Fund financial support scheme in response to new ‘Plan B’ Covid-19 measures.

Businesses can now apply from a maximum of £10,000 from the scheme, which last week was extended until February to help support businesses affected by new measures. The expansion to the scheme comes following the return of work-from-home and face covering guidance, as well as growing Covid-19 case numbers due to the Omicron variant.

Business that previously applied for funding and received the maximum amount available at that time – £5,000 – can now submit a further application. 

Councillor Nick Mannion, chair of Cheshire East Council’s economy and growth committee, said:

“There is no doubt that many businesses in Cheshire East will be greatly impacted by recent announcements from government and that they will be extremely concerned about what this means for them.

“We are committed to supporting our businesses through this period and have worked quickly to amend our policies so that we can increase the maximum level of financial support we can offer to eligible businesses.

“So far, I am pleased to say that we have paid out more than £424,000 through the fund and our teams are working hard to assess the many other applications that have been received.

“While the deadline for applying has now been extended, it is important to state that the fund does have a limited resource and awards will be granted on a first come, first served basis – so please don’t delay.”

The council has also extended the deadline for applying for its Recovery and Growth Grant to 28 February 2022. Grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 towards eligible investments can be applied for retrospectively and so far, the council has paid out more than £773,000.

Further information about eligibility for the grant schemes and details of how to apply can be found of the Cheshire East Council website.

Applications for funding from either of the Covid-19 financial support schemes that are submitted over the Christmas period will not be processed until the new year.