The Scottish Government have announced that the Coronavirus Business Support Fund will close to new applicants on 10 July 2020, and eligible applicants are urged to apply as soon as possible.
Originally intended to remain open until 31 March 2021, the Fund has seen £7.5m distributed to 680 applicants in Shetland to date. Around £875m has been distributed across the whole of Scotland at 16 June 2020.
Through the Small Business Grant Fund, a £10,000 grant is available to non-domestic ratepayers with properties in receipt of:
- Small Business Bonus Scheme relief (SBBS) or Rural Relief
- Nursery Relief, Disabled Relief, Business Growth Accelerator, discretionary Sports Relief, Enterprise Areas Relief, Fresh Start Relief, or Charitable Rate Relief but eligible for SBBS
Through the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Fund, a £25,000 grant is available to the ratepayers of properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with property with a rateable value between £18,001 - £51,000.
Eligibility has also been extended to ratepayers occupying multiple properties, where each additional property that meets the eligibility criteria will qualify for a grant equal to 75% of the one-off grant.
Phase Three of the Fund was recently opened to allow firms occupying shared office spaces, business incubators or shared industrial units, and who lease the space from a registered, rate-paying landlord, to apply to the Small Business Grant Fund.
Separately, eligibility has also been extended to companies occupying multiple premises with a cumulative rateable value of up to £500,000 – in order to be eligible premises must be operating in the retail, hospitality or leisure sectors and have individual rateable values of less than £18,000. Eligible businesses can apply to the Council for grants of up to £10,000.
The Coronavirus Business Support Fund is administered in Shetland by Shetland Islands Council and an online application form can be found on the Council’s Services portal at: https://my.shetland.gov.uk/MyServices under ‘Covid-19’.