£4.2m fund to help Blackpool businesses hit by Tier 3 losses

The council has unveiled a £4.2m Blackpool Business Recovery Fund to help sectors which have lost income due to Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions introduced prior to lockdown.

Grants, which people can apply for from Monday, will cover businesses which were not forced to close but rely on Blackpool’s tourism trade.

This includes taxi drivers, who have been campaigning for help, as well as cafes, restaurants and B&Bs, plus suppliers such as catering and laundry services.

More than 1,000 licensed taxi drivers will receive a grant equivalent to the 2020/21 licence costs.

A spokesperson for the Blackpool LIcensed Taxi Operators Association (BLTOA), said he would need to see the detail of the scheme before making a comment.

The government money is part of £10m in total, with the rest being distributed to businesses forced to close by restrictions.

Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said the council had been given “a nigh-on impossible task of trying to spread out too little to too many.”

She said: “The funding award simply does not recognise the unique nature of a tourism economy and its supply chain.”

Coun Williams added: “In the last lockdown we were given almost £50m to support our businesses.

“This time round, we have been given a total of £10m, over half of which forms an automatic grant payment for businesses forced to close during national lockdown, Tier 3 and other restrictions.

“The remaining discretionary fund has been designed so that it helps as many businesses as possible. The reality of that situation is that some of these payments will be lower than we would wish.”

Businesses which qualify for help include restaurants and cafes which have lost visitor trade, holiday accommodation which has suffered from cancellations, and attractions which rely on visitor footfall.

The supply chain including industrial laundries and catering suppliers will also qualify for help with a minimum grant payable to ratepaying businesses of £500.

Applications can be made between 9am on Monday (November 30) and midnight on Monday 14 December.

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