Supporting local businesses to receive Government COVID-19 grants

Updated as of Tuesday, April 28.

Eligible businesses in South Derbyshire who have not already claimed their coronavirus (COVID-19) business grants are encouraged to come forward as soon as possible.

South Derbyshire District Council has already processed over £5 million grant payments and is working to distribute remaining funds as quickly as possible.

Around 1,400 businesses in the district are potentially eligible for either a small business grant of £10,000 or a retail, hospitality and leisure grant of up to £25,000.

So far, around 1,000 businesses have filled in an online claim form, which gives the Council the information it needs to verify and pay the grants out as quickly as possible.

Before the grants can be made, the Council’s customer services staff must verify that the company is eligible for the grant to prevent against fraud.

Councillor Martyn Ford, South Derbyshire District Council’s leader, said:

“We are processing the claims as quickly as possible, and we are pleased that we have already processed grants totalling over £5 million.

“We will continue to process more claims and payments every day, as we know how important it is to support local businesses financially at this difficult time.

“Because we have only been given a set amount of money to support eligible businesses to receive the grants which do not need to be repaid, it’s vital we verify claims to check they are valid and to ensure the money goes to support local businesses and jobs. We are processing all claims as fast as we can and thank businesses for their patience.”

During the current COVID-19 working restrictions, it is possible that business owners may not be visiting their premises and may not have seen the letter inviting them to apply.

Councillor Ford continued:

“We are keen to get the message out to businesses who haven't filled in a claim form to visit our website to see if they may be eligible and to fill in the claim form if they think they are.

“Even if businesses haven’t received a letter, but think they are eligible, they should check the criteria to see if they can still complete a claim. We can't however make grant payments to eligible unless businesses fill in a grant claim form.”

To find out more about the grants, including the eligibility criteria and information about other support that is available to businesses, please visit www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/businessgrants.

The application can be made online, there is no need to post letters or documents.

23 April 2020