BUSINESSES in Milton Keynes are being urged to contact the council for emergency Covid-19 funding of up to £25,000.
The council will be sharing £40 million of government grants with over 3,000 local businesses. Funding of £10,000 is available to smaller businesses and up to £25,000 for those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector.
Details are available here.
The council is processing grant applications from more than 2,000 businesses so far, carrying out checks to make sure payments are made accurately. By the end of this week it is on target to have paid funding to 70% of eligible businesses.
However, records show there are still up to 800 businesses that have yet to apply, the council says. It is contacting these businesses from this week as well as using local business networks to get the message out.
Milton Keynes Council has set up an online portal where businesses can apply and upload their bank details as part of their application. Once a grant is approved, it can be paid directly into an account rather than by a cheque in the post, so the money gets to them in the quickest way.
Council leader Pete Marland said: “We are working hard to provide the best support possible for businesses in MK in these extraordinary times, and we have tripled the number of people working on this. We are acting quickly but carefully so businesses can continue to operate now and recover faster.
“My thanks go out to our Revenue and Benefits team and other colleagues who have been redeployed to process every application for support as fast as possible.”
Retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses are entitled to a 12-month business rates holiday for the 2020/2021 business rate year. The council will be issuing revised bills this week to 1,574 businesses.
Even where a business has not had to pay rates in the past couple of years, it is still eligible to receive a grant and should get in touch as soon as possible, he added.
Businesses can check their eligibility here.
