Month: December 2020

If your business is required to close by law or to significantly change its operations due to COVID-19 restrictions, you may be eligible to apply for grant funding.

Grant funding for eligible business will cover the period of any closures or restrictions with the earliest claim date being 2 November 2020. You can still apply even if you are required to close or modify your operations for less than 4 weeks.

Applications to the Strategic Framework Business Fund should be made through your local authority website.

Grants will be paid every 4 weeks in arrears as long as restrictions last.

If your business is required to close by law, apply for the Temporary Closure grant:

• £2,000 if your business premises has a rateable value of up to and including £51,000
• £3,000 if your business premises has a rateable value of £51,001 or above
• From 1 January 2021 there will no longer be an upper limit of £15,000 for any eligible business operating multiple premises.

If your business can remain open but is specifically required to modify its operations by law, for example having to close earlier than normal, apply for the Business Restrictions grant. This does not include where a demand for your products or services has been reduced because of the pandemic:

• £1, 400 if your business premises has a rateable value of up to and including £51,000
• £2,100 if your business premises has a rateable value of £51,001 or above
• From 1 January 2021 there will no longer be an upper limit of upper limit of £10,500 in total in any four-week period will apply to any eligible business operating multiple premises.

Grants will be paid every 4 weeks in arrears.

Payments will be paid administered by local authorities, and you will not need to re-apply if restrictions are extended beyond four weeks.

When restrictions end, any final payment in arrears may be adjusted to reflect the duration of the restrictions to the nearest week.

This support is separate from and in addition to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Restrictions Fund, which was to support employees and businesses impacted by local COVID-19 restrictions, from 9 October until 1 November.

Whether your business is eligible will depend on where your premises are located and what level of restrictions are in place at any point in time. Read detailed information about eligibility

You can apply if:

• your business has been directly impacted by restrictions
• your business is registered for non-domestic rates – if you pay rates through a landlord rather than directly to a local authority you can still apply but must provide evidence through a copy of the lease agreement
• Limited companies (including Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations), sole traders, trust and partnerships can apply provided they meet the above criteria.

Businesses/premises required to close and eligible for a temporary closure grant

Levels 0 and 1

Nightclubs – a nightclub is an entertainment premises that is open until at least 2 am at the weekend, and the main or routine operation of the premises is after 7 pm,  and where the majority of the premises are given over to permanent dance floor facilities.  It must also:

• have a permanent DJ performance area booth
• be licensed for recorded music, dance facilities and live performance (at Q5 Activities Matrix within the Premises Licence Operating Plan) and
• the premises Licence Operating Plan at 5(g) must confirm it trades post 1am with music exceeding 85 DB and more patrons likely to be standing than seated

Level 2

• hospitality – pubs that do not serve food
• mobile close contact services* – specifically  beauty and nail services (including make-up services), hair removal services, tattoo, piercing and body modification services, fashion design, dress-fitting and tailoring services, indoor portrait photography and art services, massage therapies, complementary and alternative medicine services requiring physical contact or close physical proximity between persons, but not osteopathy and chiropractic services, spa and wellness services
• leisure and entertainment – soft play, funfairs, indoor bowling, theatres,  comedy clubs, concert halls, sports stadiums,  conference or exhibition centres, snooker/pool halls, music venues, casinos, nightclubs

Level 3

• pubs that do not serve food
• mobile close contact services*
• cinemas, arcades, soft play, funfairs, Indoor bowling, Theatres, Snooker/pool halls,  comedy clubs,  concert halls, sports stadiums,  conference or exhibition centres,  music venues, casinos, bingo halls, nightclubs

Level 4

• accommodations – hotels, B&Bs, self-catering, caravan and camp sites

• hospitality – restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, social clubs
• retail – non-essential retail (which specifically excludes food retailers, including food markets, supermarkets, convenience stores and corner shops; off licenses and licensed shops selling alcohol (including breweries); pharmacies (including non-dispensing pharmacies) and chemists; newsagents; homeware, building supplies and hardware stores; petrol stations, car repair and MOT services, bicycle shops, taxi or vehicle hire businesses, banks, building societies, credit unions, short-term loan providers, savings clubs, cash points and undertakings which by way of business operate a currency exchange office, transmit money (or any representation of money) by any means or cash cheques which are made payable to customers; post offices; funeral directors; laundrettes and dry cleaners; dental services, opticians, audiology services, chiropody services, chiropractors, osteopaths and other medical or health services, including services relating to mental health; veterinary surgeons and pet shops; agricultural supplies shops and agricultural markets; storage and distribution facilities, including delivery drop off or collection points, where the facilities are in the premises of a business included in this sub-paragraph; )car parks; public toilets, livestock markets or auctions; garden centres, plant nurseries, outdoor markets, and outdoor car lots)
• close contact services – hairdressers, beauticians, tailors
• sport and exercise – indoor gyms, swimming pools, dance studios, exercise class/yoga studios, indoor soccer centres
• leisure and entertainment – cinemas, arcades, soft play, funfairs, indoor bowling, theatres, comedy clubs, concert halls, sport stadiums, conference or exhibition centres, snooker/pool halls, casinos, bingo halls, nightclubs
• visitor attractions

If your business operates multiple premises you can apply for grants for each premise. All premises should be included in one application which should be sent to and processed by the local authority area in which your business is headquartered. The maximum any one business can receive will be restricted, regardless of the number of premises.

You cannot apply if your business:

• is not mentioned in the eligibility guidelines
• has breached wider COVID-19 regulations/requirements prior to local restrictions
• has connections to tax havens

This is for Scottish businesses that are required to close by law as a result of COVID-19 restrictions from 2 November 2020.

Please note that this support is separate from, and in addition to, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Restrictions Fund. That fund was to support employees and businesses impacted by local COVID-19 restrictions, from 9 October until 1 November. Applications for that funding closed on 3 November.

To apply for this fund, you need to go through your local council:

• Aberdeen
• Aberdeenshire
• Angus
• Argyll and Bute
• Clackmannanshire
• Dumfries and Galloway
• Dundee
• East Ayrshire
• East Dunbartonshire
• East Lothian
• East Renfrewshire
• Edinburgh
• Falkirk
• Fife
• Glasgow
• Highland
• Inverclyde
• Midlothian
• Moray (listed under ‘Money, Businesses and Council Housing’)
• Na h-Eileanan Siar
• North Ayrshire
• North Lanarkshire
• Orkney
• Perth and Kinross
• Renfrewshire
• Scottish Borders
• Shetland Islands
• South Ayrshire
• South Lanarkshire
• Stirling
• West Dunbartonshire
• West Lothian