Small businesses received £21.3 billion in COVID-19 support from local authority grants

Covid-19 grants distributed by local authorities provided small businesses across England with £21.3 billion in business support through the pandemic.

A new report into the government’s COVID-19 Local Authority Business Support Grants scheme also showed over one-third of all available funding was allocated to the accommodation and food services sector (£8.2 billion), a part of the economy hit hardest by the pandemic.

Firms operating in wholesale retail (£3.5 billion); arts, entertainment and recreation (£3.2 billion); and other services industries (£4.3 billion) were also among the different business sectors to receive substantial help under the scheme.

Small Business Minister Jane Hunt said:

“Our amazing small businesses are the backbone of our economy and their efforts both during and since the pandemic have been heroic.

“In many cases, Local Authority Business Support Grants were essential to businesses who found themselves really struggling and who are now able to recover, grow, and look to the future.

“By putting billions of pounds into business recovery, we have stood by our commitment to our small businesses and the communities, families, and livelihoods they form a key part of.”

Micro, small, and medium sized firms across different business sectors were all eligible to access the funding made available by Westminster for local authorities to distribute across England. All regions in England were found to have allocated most of their total available funds to businesses in need.