OMICRON HOSPITALITY & LEISURE GRANT COMING SOON!

Following the Governments annoucement on the 21st December 2021 we now have further information on this financial support for businesses which is in the form of the new Omicron Hospitality & Leisure Grant.

This grant scheme scheme is a one off grant for businesses on the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) ratings list only and will support he hospitality, leisure and accommodation business premises with one-off grants of up to £6,000. 

The aim of the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme is to support businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors only. 

How much will eligible businesses receive?

The following thresholds apply. 

-Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £15,000 or under on 30 December 2021 will receive a payment of £2,667.

-Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable  value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 on 30 December 2021 will receive a payment of £4,000.

-Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or over on 30 December 2021 will receive a payment of £6000

What kind of businesses are eligible? 

Only businesses who are listed as one of the following on the 30 December 2021 are eligible to receive this grant. 

Hospitality

-Food courts

-Public houses/pub restaurants Restaurants

-Roadside restaurants Wine bars

-Cafés

Leisure

-Casinos and gambling clubs Cinemas

-Museums and art galleries Stately homes & historic houses Theatres

-Zoos & safari parks Amusement parks Wedding venues

-Events venues

-Night clubs & discotheques

-Arenas

-Concert halls

-Tourist attractions

-Theme parks Amusement arcades

-Soft play centres or areas Indoor riding centres Clubs & institutions Village halls & scout huts, cadet huts, etc.

Accommodation

-Caravan parks

-Caravan sites and pitches Chalet parks

-Coaching inns

-Country house hotels Guest houses

-Hostels

-Hotels

-Lodge

-Holiday apartments, Cottages or bungalows Campsites

-Boarding houses Canal boats or other vessels

-B&Bs

-Catered holiday homes Holiday homes

I am not one of the above businesses, can I receive this funding?

Only businesses who appear on the ratings list as one of the above as of 30 December 2021 can receive this funding. 

Please note, any changes to ratings after 30 December 2021 will not mean the business becomes retrospectively eligible for this grant.

I am not the rate payer but I am one of the eligible business types. Will I get the funding?

The funding will only be awarded to the ratepayer.  

How do I access this funding?

An application process will be going live shortly. 

When will I receive the funding?

Local Authorities are expected to recover the funding mid- January. Once this lands, it will be released to eligible businesses, subject to the application process being correctly completed. 

Will there be any more Additional Restrictions Grants?

We are currently awaiting confirmation of any further allocation of ARG being made to Wakefield Council. Once we know more we will publish here. 

Can I talk to someone about this grant?

We appreciate this is a difficult time for businesses.  At this stage, we are waiting for more information on these funding schemes from Central Government.  So our teams can ensure we are fully up to date and can implement the funding schemes in a timely manner, we ask that you only contact us if you have a general business support enquiry that is not Covid grant related. 

Please note - we do not yet have a date for when we will receive these funds from Central Government but we expect to know more shortly, we are anticipating any application process to be available from mid-January onwards once we have clarity on the eligibility criteria for these funds.

All information including FAQ's can be found on our dedicated covid-19 page here.