THE Scottish Government has announced new “top-up” grants of £6000 or £25,000 for hospitality businesses.
The announcement from finance secretary Kate Forbes follows a similar move last week from chancellor Rishi Sunak which covers businesses in England.
Under the new grant scheme, hospitality businesses on the Scottish mainland which have been forced to close will receive a one-off payment of £25,000 (if their rateable value is £51,001 or higher) or £6000 (if their rateable value is up to £51,000).
The top-up payments are in addition to the four-weekly grants paid to hospitality companies under the Scottish Government’s Strategic Business Framework Fund, which sees those premises forced to close eligible for payments of £2000 or £3000 every four weeks, depending on rateable value.
The Scottish Government has said that, “in most cases”, businesses that have already registered for the four-weekly grants will receive the top-up grants automatically on 25th January.
Any business which has not registered for the Strategic Framework grants can do so via their local authority.
Announcing the new payments Forbes said: “I’d encourage all eligible businesses to apply through their local authority if they have not done so already.
“Of course we are acutely aware that this support can never compensate for the full impact on business, but we must work within the resources that are available to us, and we continue to respond to the evolving economic challenges arising from the pandemic.”
Update 12/1/21: The Scottish Government has confirmed that multiple operators will receive a top-up grant for each of their premises, with no limit on the number of premises eligible.
