The following grant schemes are currently available:
The Restart Grant scheme supports businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors with a one-off grant, to reopen safely as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Grants are available from 1 April 2021.
View more information on the Restart Grant
We have received funds from government to support those businesses not eligible for the LRSG which have been affected by either Tier 2 restrictions or the recent national lockdown in November.
An initial scheme relating to businesses affected by the second national lockdown concluded in December 2020 and we provided grants to over 50 local businesses.
Following the government's announcement on 4th January 2021 that there would be another national lockdown the Council has received further funds from government to be paid out on a discretionary basis. These funds will be paid over to eligible businesses in the form of a Supplementary Winter Lockdown Grant.
View more information on the Supplementary Winter Lockdown Grant
The grant has been introduced in recognition that some individuals have not been able to access other grants which the Council has made available using funds received from government to help address the financial impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the local economy.
View more information on the Self-Employment Support Grant
A grant of up to £10,000 is available to help local businesses and organisations based in and around Whittlesey and Wisbech to invest in assets that will help with recovery from the impacts of COVID-19, improve competitiveness, stimulate growth, enhance productivity and create local jobs.
Applications for the Business Capital Grant Scheme (BCGS) for capital expenditure is open to small or medium size enterprises (SMEs) or organisations, including charities, located in and around Whittlesey and Wisbech. SMEs are defined as having fewer than 250 employees.
Only capital funding is available through this grant scheme.
The funding for the BCGS is provided by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), as part of the Market Town Masterplan initiative, known in Fenland as Growing Fenland.
View more information on the Whittlesey & Wisbech Business Capital Grants Schemes
The following grant schemes are now closed:
Hospitality, accommodation and leisure businesses which have suffered a reduction in trade due to the Tier 2 restrictions are eligible to obtain the LRSG (Open) grant. This grant will be paid on a 14-day cycle in line with whatever period Fenland remains in Tier 2. The LRSG (Closed) grant is available to businesses in these sectors which are required to remain closed, i.e. due to the requirement to only serve alcohol alongside a substantial meal.
All businesses registered for business rates which were required by law to close from 26th December 2020 onwards when Fenland entered Tier 4 restrictions are entitled to receive a grant. This will be paid at the following rate for every 28 days the business is required to remain closed:
Grants will be paid into the bank account provided by the business at the time it applied for the Local Restrictions Support Grant in relation to the November lockdown. We have been given permission from Government to make a payment incorporating each eligible businesses' total entitlement up to 31 March 2021.
Applications for the above grant must be received by 31 March 2021.
This is an additional grant which the government announced on 5 January 2021.
In addition to the Local Restrictions Support Grant, businesses required to close due to the current national lockdown are entitled to the following one-off top-up grants. These will be paid out at the same time as the Local Restrictions Support Grant.
Applications for the above grant must be received by 31 March 2021.
Businesses required to close due to the new national restrictions from 5 November to 2 December 2020 will be able to receive Local Restrictions Support Grants. These are worth up to £3,000 per month (four weeks).
Applications for the above grant must be received by 31 March 2021.
The Council acknowledges that since the start of the first national lockdown in March 2020 there are some sectors of the business which have been severely impacted despite technically remaining 'open' since they have not been legally required to close. Particular examples include those businesses in the events sector and those which form part of the hospitality, accommodation and tourism supply chain.
The Council has allocated funding to support any business which is not eligible to receive the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) which can demonstrate losses of £15,000 or more in the period since lockdown restrictions were first introduced in March 2020. The maximum grant available is £5,000.
Applications must be received by 5pm on Wednesday, 31 March 2021.
At the beginning of December, Government announced extra support for pubs that mainly serve alcohol (rather than food) over the Christmas period.
This scheme is now closed. If an eligible business has not already received its grant this will be paid by 31 March 2021.
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