One-off COVID funding of up to £9,000 now available for hard-hit retail and hospitality sector

Extra COVID funding of up to £9,000 for those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors is now available from Adur & Worthing Councils.

Businesses eligible for the top-up funding, which was announced by the Chancellor earlier this month, can now register for this vital support via the Councils’ easy-to-use online portals.

The funding is in addition to a range of support to businesses and community organisations forced to close by the latest set of lockdown restrictions.

Anyone who pays business rates and has been forced to reduce trading due to either the Tier 4 or the current national lockdown can apply for the one-off funding. It does not have to be paid back and covers the period until the middle of February.

To make things easier for businesses and ensure funds can be distributed as quickly as possible, the payments for Tier 4, National Lockdown (closed addendum) and the top-up grant, have been rolled into one registration process.

The 400 businesses which have already applied for Tier 4 or lockdown funding have been contacted directly to avoid the need for re-registration.

To apply, visit: www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support/#cblp.

All businesses - including freelancers, sole traders, tradespeople, taxi drivers and B&Bs - are also eligible to apply for a further discretionary pot of support.

The Councils currently have up to £1 million of government funding available via this scheme. There are no restrictions on who can apply but applications will be assessed against published criteria.

To apply for funding visit www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.

A Councils spokesman said: “As with previous grants, we have worked hard to get this system up and running as quickly as possible. To make things easy for businesses, we have created a single registration process for tier four and the latest lockdown.

“We know there are plenty of hard-working freelancers, sole traders and small businesses who have not applied for support yet and we encourage them to come forward as soon as they can. If in doubt, our team is on hand to talk you through the process.”

To contact the team with a query email business.covidsupport@adur-worthing.gov.uk.

For further information visit: www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.