Covid-19 grant schemes still available to impacted firms

Businesses across Birmingham who are still being impacted by the pandemic are able to apply for two grant schemes launched by Birmingham City Council.

Businesses that did not qualify for the Restart Grant earlier this year may be eligible for support through the ARG Discretionary Restart Fund, which offers businesses a one-off grant of £5,000.

Businesses must operate within non-essential retail, hospitality, accommodation, leisure, gym and sports, or personal care sectors.

As well as this, businesses must meet the eligibility criteria, such as having their operations impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and have been trading since 1 April 2021.

Designed for Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), the ARG Business Recovery Scheme offers grant funding of £5,000 to £50,000 towards projects which will drive business recovery and safeguard existing jobs.

SMEs in any sector can apply, as long as they have been actively trading for a minimum of the last three months and are seeking to implement a recovery plan.

Eligible costs could include the implementation of Covid-19 related measures; improvements to systems, production processes or production layout, IT and Digital and new product development.

Businesses are required to obtain approval prior to commencing their projects, which will need to be financially completed within three months from the date that the application is approved.

Only one grant per business can be awarded, and businesses can only access one scheme.

Raj Kandola (pictured), head of policy at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Whilst national restrictions have continued to ease, we understand that a number of firms are still facing an uncertain future and that 's why it 's so important for those businesses to access help as quickly as possible.

“We would encourage any Birmingham based businesses that meet the eligibility criteria to apply as soon as possible to potentially secure a vital cash boost.

“As a Chamber, we will continue to offer support and guidance for those businesses that are still struggling as we enter the winter period. ”

For more details about the grants and their eligibility criteria, please click here.

To find out more about support available for businesses during the pandemic, please see our Covid-19 Support Grid.