Business Support Update

Covid-19

Support for local businesses

We have awarded £11.56 million in grants to 1,033 businesses in Carlisle.

We continue to process government grants available for businesses affected by the Coronavirus outbreak with payments being made on a daily basis.

We have written to all eligible businesses within the Carlisle area and are urging businesses to contact us with the necessary information to allow us to process the remaining grants.

Within the letter they are asked to confirm some company details and send back the information electronically. We need this information to process the payment and to ensure that the funding goes to the right place. We want all eligible businesses to get access to the grants; we don’t want any business to miss out.

Once the information has been received, an email is sent to the business acknowledging that the information has been received. It is not necessary for them to make any further contact. If any additional information is needed or there are any queries, we will contact the business direct. Once the necessary information has been received, we aim to process the grants within five working days.

The grants have been provided to those businesses eligible for the government’s small business grant fund or the retail, leisure and hospitality grant. The level of grant is dependent on the rateable value of the business.

We have followed government guidance regarding the business grants and to ensure that all eligible businesses access the grants as quickly as possible, we have targeted our approach rather than asking businesses to apply. The government has made it clear that this is not an application process and that councils should be proactively contacting businesses that could access the funding.

Any business that has any concerns or has not received a letter, and thinks they are eligible, is asked to contact us by calling 01228 817234 or emailing [email protected]

In addition to the grants, we have also sent nil balance bills to businesses that are eligible for business rate relief under the expanded business rates relief scheme.

We are also promoting other grant and funding opportunities on our website - www.carlisle.gov.uk

We are also searching out other funding opportunities which we are also promoting to partners. Our website provides up-to-date information on the government funding and is regularly updated when new schemes or guidance is provided.

We are working closely with Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Cumbria Tourism and Carlisle Ambassadors to support local businesses.