Yesterday, the Chancellor announced £1 billion in support for businesses that are most impacted by the Omicron variant across the UK. As part of this, businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises, plus more than £100 million in discretionary funding being made available to local authorities to support other businesses.
This support for hospitality and leisure is particularly welcome at what is often their most profitable time of the year, as businesses have seen cancellations and reduced footfall as people have responded to the rise of the variant. These generous grants are designed to help businesses given the uncertain situation that many businesses face. Around 200,000 businesses nationwide will be eligible for the grants, which will be administered by local authorities and be available in the coming weeks.
The Government will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for SMEs across the UK, as well as putting a further £30 million into the Culture Recovery Fund, enabling cultural organisations to apply for support during the winter.
Further information is available at Gov.uk here: £1 billion in support for businesses most impacted by Omicron across the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).