More than 7,000 grants have been paid to County Durham businesses to help them deal with the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak.
To date, Durham County Council has now paid more than £76 million, which is 85 percent of the overall sum that was originally expected to be paid.
Last week, updated government guidance extended the support grants to charities, meaning an additional 427 organisations would benefit from the grants across the county.
Council staff have worked tirelessly to contact all qualifying businesses, including those charities that were originally not included in the scheme, while continuing to process all other claims received as quickly as possible.
The council now expects to pay just under £95 million once all 8,697 grants have been paid to those businesses that are eligible.
The grants of either £10,000 or £25,000 are designed to help small businesses that have been affected by the Coronavirus outbreak, with many business owners continuing to praise the council for the way it has worked with them to establish simple claims processes.
Paul Ruscoe, the managing director of R&R Bearings Ltd in Consett, said: “The speed in which this support has been provided is mind blowing. After seeing some green shoots over the last two years, we were cautiously optimistic about our future.
“Unfortunately, our telephones have become quieter because of COVID-19 and we have some serious challenges ahead. However, this grant will help us massively over the coming weeks and make a big difference to our business.”
The grants are also helping some owners to diversify and strengthen their business.
Guidelines around which businesses are eligible for the grant have been set by the government, and the council is doing all it can to be as flexible as possible within the constraints of the national guidelines to which it is working.
One of the key eligibility criteria is that a business must have been occupying a qualifying business premises that was listed in the council’s rating list at 11th March. Businesses who were not listed do not currently qualify.
That means some of the applications which have been received from businesses that don’t operate out of a building in the ratings list haven’t been able to be processed. They have instead been reported to the Valuation Office Agency to see if they will amend the ratings list and back date it, which will allow payments to be made to them in the future.
You can find more details around eligibility online at http://www.durham.gov.uk/ndrgrants
It’s really important to look after your own health, and the health of your staff, during these uncertain times. We have updated our Information for Businesses page with resources including NHS Mental Health and Wellbeing, MIND and Every Mind Matters. http://www.durham.gov.uk/covid19business
