£22bn grants and business rates package for high streets

Thousands of high street companies are beginning to receive £25,000 cash grants and will be exempt from business rates, as they begin to benefit from a £22 billion package.

Eligible properties, including those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, will not pay business rates for the next 12 months, as part of a Treasury bid to save firms in England £11 billion. The smallest businesses in these sectors are also beginning to receive one off grants of either £10,000 or £25,000, with money landing in their bank accounts.

An early payment of £3.4 billion was recently made to local authorities to ensure grants would get to businesses as soon as possible. The government now believes that every local authority in England has received the full amount of grant funding they need to support their local businesses.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “Business rates can often be one of the main fixed costs for small companies up and down the country, which is why today’s suspension of business rates for retailers and our hospitality and leisure industries will offer much-needed support in these challenging times.”