Blackpool businesses are thanked as council staff work hard to hand out more than £53m in coronavirus aid

Payments of more than £8.2m have been made for all the new schemes since September, comprising of almost 6,000 grant payments to over 2,000 businesses.

Earlier in the lockdown, grants of £32.5m were paid to 3,250 businesses, who were in receipt of small business rate relief.

This was followed by £12.5m, which was awarded to 710 businesses as part of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants scheme. Additional assistance for Business Rates was provided to OFSTED Early Years Nurseries with 100 per cent discounts awarded.

On top of that with the introduction of the Tier systems in autumn, additional support was provided by way of the Local Restrictions Support Grants and for the period of national lockdown from November 2.

The council said these proved complex to administer but the majority of awards were made before Christmas. And with the Business Rates Retail Discount scheme to administer as well, staff have had to be flexible.

Coun Mark Smith, Blackpool Council’s Cabinet Member for Business, Enterprise and Job Creation, said: “Throughout 2020, the tireless work carried out by several council teams has helped to mitigate the devastating effect that the pandemic has had on local businesses.

“I would like to thank all business owners for their patience shown throughout what has no doubt been an extremely difficult and frustrating period.

“The assistance provided runs much deeper than the administering of support grants.

“From designing payment systems to carrying out criteria checks, to helping business owners to understand how they can access the various support packages via our dedicated helpdesk, to responding to queries and making payments, each contribution has been invaluable.

“The financial consequences of yet further restrictions will no doubt leave businesses in desperate need of additional support. Following the announcement from the Chancellor of further government assistance, including one-off top up grants worth up to £9,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, the team will once again be on hand to help in any way they can.”

Blackpool Gazette:

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