North Somerset Council is urging local businesses across the region to get in touch to see what’s available for business and individuals who have been affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).

Following Government guidelines announced last month, the council is delivering the following schemes:

Business rates relief – applicable to all retail, hospitality and leisure properties, including estate agents, letting agencies and bingo halls. Businesses will receive 100% relief from their business rate bill for April 2020.

Business Grant Schemes – the grants will be in the form of a Small Business Grant and a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant. Over 6,700 letters have been sent to eligible North Somerset businesses with details of how they can receive this grant.

Additional government run schemes supported by the council include:

Self-employment Income Support Scheme – a taxable grant worth 80% of self-employed individuals income up to a maximum of £2,500 a month for the next three months.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – any business putting staff on leave during the coronavirus outbreak will receive 80% of a person’s salary, up to a value of £2,500 per person, per month.

Support for self-employed people – the minimum income floor has been suspended allowing all self-employed individuals to access Universal Credit.

Bank of England – liquidity support for larger businesses – the Covid Corporate Financing Facility is open to financially healthy companies that are experiencing severe disruption to cash flows, helping to pay wages and suppliers.

SME Statutory Sick Pay compensation – this support helps small and medium-sized business to cope with the extra costs of paying COVID-19 related Statutory Sick Pay of up to two weeks.

Cllr Mark Canniford, Executive Member for Business, Economy and Employment at North Somerset Council, said: “We want to help local businesses during this difficult time, and we urge businesses and individuals to get in contact with the council to see what available support there is. We recognise this is a difficult time and we want help organisations get the financial help they need.”

For more information, or to apply for support, contact:

Phone: 01934 426266 

Email: business@n-somerset.gov.uk

Website: www.n-somerset.gov.uk/covidbusinesssupport

In addition, HMRC are delivering a programme of webinars to support employers, employees and the self-employed through this period of disruption. You can watch the first recorded webinar and register for future webinars using this link: bit.ly/HMRCWebinar

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