Coronavirus: Adur & Worthing Councils launch online Business Grants Service 

Small businesses, retailers, restaurant owners and leisure operators have today (Friday) been invited to submit a request for a government grant through a system set up by Adur & Worthing Councils.

The Councils have been charged by the government with administering the grant system which is available to around 2,500 businesses. In Worthing £26m has been allocated for the support during the coronavirus crisis and in Adur the figure is £17m.

The Councils have developed an easy-to-use online form which is now live at https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support/  but are stressing that business owners must read the government guidelines on the section first to be sure they are eligible for the grants. Once forms have been filled in they will be verified by staff at the Councils before payments are made.

Small businesses qualifying (those that receive Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate) will receive a grant of £10,000 while operators in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will receive grants on a sliding scale of up to £25,000 providing their rateable value does not exceed £51,000.

A section on the website directs businesses to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page which Councils are asking everyone to check before filling in a form so that time is not wasted assessing forms for businesses that do not qualify.

Separately a letter is to be sent out by Councils to all qualifying businesses as a backstop to ensure all realise they can apply for grant assistance.

Businesses qualifying will need to give details of their operation so it is important the rate payer accesses the form only when they have all information to hand. Details needed include their business rates account number, property reference number, VAT registration number, full bank details, and billing address.

A spokesman for Adur & Worthing Councils said, ‘We all know this is an extremely worrying time for all businesses in our communities. 

‘We’ve worked quickly to develop an easy-to-use online system that will not take long to fill in. As soon as we have the details our teams will get started on processing the claim. We expect to have thousands of submissions but will act as speedily as possible.’

Businesses that have been verified will be sent a confirmatory email with further details of payments while those who haven’t met the government’s criteria will also receive an email confirmation.