Update on coronavirus small business grants and how to get them

The grants discussed in this post are no longer available. For the latest information on coronavirus business grants in the UK, go here.

Enterprise Nation has published a spreadsheet with the links businesses across the UK need to apply for coronavirus business rates grants.

For businesses that pay business rates, the government has launched the following:

All businesses in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief and Rural Rates Relief are eligible for a £10,000 grant in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors with certain rateable values may be eligible for a £25,000 grant. The values differ as follows:

• a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000 in England

• a rateable value of between £12,001 and £51,000 in Wales

• a rateable value of between £18,000 and £15,000 in Scotland

• a rateable value between £15,001 and £51,000 in Northern Ireland

How to access the coronavirus business rates grants

The government initially announced that local authories would get in touch with businesses eligible for the grants, but most councils are requiring businesses to fill in an online form as they don't hold details for all companies.

Letters have also been sent to businesses but because many properties are closed due to the lockdown, business owners might not have received them.

Tamworth Council, for example, said so far 400 businesses have been granted £10,000 each from the Small Business Grant scheme, which represents just over 50% of eligible firms.

A further 57 businesses have received grants of either £10,000 or £25,000 from the Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grants scheme, but this represents only 26% of eligible firms.

Cllr Jeremy Oates said: "Our teams have been working flat out for the past two weeks to administer the government's coronavirus support packages to ratepaying businesses.

" They've already managed to allocate almost half of the £12million pot we've been given for the eligible rateable businesses in our area.

"However despite our best efforts, there are still many businesses we haven't been able to reach for one reason or another and we're urging those to come forward and submit the information we need so we can get this significant injection of cash on its way to them."

Business owners who have not been contacted by their local council are encouraged to find the relevant online form to access the grants.

Click here for a spreadsheet of council website links for all areas in England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland.

The latest coronavirus support information

We are keeping you updated on the latest information on how to access the government's coronavirus business support here. You can also find advice in Enterprise Nation's coronavirus business advice hub. Follow Enterprise Nation on Twitter too for updates.