Restart Grant to support businesses to reopen safely as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted

As the Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG) were withdrawn on 1 April 2021, local councils across England are now accelerating the Restart Grant, providing eligible businesses in the non-essential retail sector funding of up to £6,000, and eligible businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym sectors funding of up to £18,000 as one-off cash grants.

What businesses are eligible for the new Restart Grant?

General eligibility criteria include:

• business must be based in England
• be a rate-paying business
• in the non-essential retail, hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care or gym sectors
• trading on 1 April 2021

and exclude businesses that:

• are in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register
• have exceeded the permitted subsidy allowance

Apart from these general criteria laid out by the government, grant application assessment and decision will be at the discretion of local councils.

How much will businesses get under the Restart Grant?

One-off grants thresholds for non-essential retail businesses:

• Rateable value of exactly £15,000 or under: grant value of £2,667
• Rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000: grant value of £4,000
• Rateable value of exactly £51,000 or over: grant value of £6,000

One-off grants thresholds for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care, and gym businesses:

• Rateable value of exactly £15,000 or under: grant value of £8000
• Rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000: grant value of £12000
• Rateable value of exactly £51,000 or over: grant value of £18000

How to apply

To apply, businesses should visit their local council’s website for detailed information. You can search by postcode for your local council’s website at https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council.