Businesses in South Cambridgeshire that are eligible for grant funding under two coronavirus assistance schemes are being contacted by the district council and invited to apply.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Government announced there would be support for small businesses and those companies in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

The Small Business Grant Fund provides a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses that already pay little or no business rates to help them meet ongoing business costs.

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund provides businesses in these industries with a rateable value of under £15,000 with a grant of £10,000. Businesses with a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000

South Cambs District Council estimates that a total of around 1,700 businesses in the area are eligible for one of the grants.

These companies are being emailed with instructions on how to apply for the grants online. If the council does not have an email address for them, they are being sent a letter containing details about applying.

Any business owner who does not receive an email or letter within the next week – but believes they are eligible – should check the criteria in the ‘Coronavirus information for businesses’ section of the council’s website.

Councillor Peter McDonald said: “Our team is working flat out to get these grants into the bank accounts of local businesses as quickly as they possibly can.

“Every day I am hearing stories of local companies doing all they can to stay in business and we will support them.

“When administering these grants, there are checks that we need to carry out to guard against fraud and we are doing this as quickly as we can.

“Also, I’d urge all local businesspeople to sign-up for our newsletter via the business section of our website. We are regularly sending out the latest advice and guidance and know that clear, concise information is needed.

“Alongside all of this, we’re are driving forward the recruitment of an expanded business support team and talking with as many local businesses as we can to find out what they need from us to help them through this crisis.”