District and borough councils start to roll out business rate discounts to Northamptonshire firms

Businesses are being given a range of financial support packages by the government during the coronavirus pandemic.

Retail business rate discount has been increased to 100 per cent for the 2020-21 financial year and now includes the leisure and hospitality sector, and pre-school nurseries.

Businesses are not required to do anything, as this will be automatically applied and they will not be billed for next year’s amount. Businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality receiving a bill indicating how much they owe next year can ignore this, according to the councils.

The Government has also announced a number of grants that are being made available.

One-off small business grants of £10,000 are now available for businesses in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rates relief. Cash grants for businesses in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector have also been made available. Those with a property with a rolling rateable value of up to £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000. Those between £15,000 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.

Each local authority will pay the small business grant automatically where possible but will contact businesses if further information is required. More details on how to access the financial support and grants on offer will be available on local district or borough council websites.

Firms are advised to keep an eye on their local authority’s website as details might be published on there before their local authority manages to contact them.

Northamptonshire business owners can also contact the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) Growth Hub to speak to an adviser directly about the Government’s business support measures. The free service can be reached on email at [email protected] or on 0300 01234 35.