Great Yarmouth Borough Council hands out £20m in relief grants to local businesses

Three weeks ago, the council wrote to the 3,000 eligible businesses in the borough and asked them to complete the simple online form as swiftly as possible in order to get their grants paid out.

So far, around £19m has been handed out in total to 1,722 businesses, which represents 57 per cent of the businesses in the borough that are eligible for the Government grants.

With the number of forms completed daily now starting to reduce, the council is phoning or emailing the remaining eligible businesses, where it has those contact details, to remind them of the importance of completing the online form.

Visit www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support for the link to the online form, information and support about the grants, eligibility criteria and further business advice.  For business advice, contact the Growth Hub via 0300 333 6536 or www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk

Eligible businesses should only submit one form, as duplication of forms is likely to delay processing. The council is also reminding businesses to be wary of third-party companies offering to complete their grant form for a fee, as the form can be completed simply by businesses themselves.

Cllr Carl Smith, leader of the council, said: "The council is working closely with New Anglia LEP, other local councils and business groups to ensure our local businesses get the support they are entitled to during these challenging times.

"I would like to praise our council staff for working quickly to get so many grants paid out in just three weeks, and we continue to pay out money daily. We would like to hand out grants to the remaining eligible businesses but can only do so if those businesses complete the online form.  

"The form is a simple data-capture process asking for information each business should have easy access to, and council staff are available to help over the phone if needed. We are doing all we can to make businesses aware, in liaison with our partners, and we hope eligible businesses will grasp the support being provided."