‘Coronavirus has hit us hard, so small business grants are a lifeline’

Businesses across the city have hailed a grant scheme administered by the city council as a lifeline to get them through the coronavirus outbreak.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has given out around £30m in small business grants to support local traders and businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sector. But there are still around 500 small businesses that might be eligible to receive funding that haven’t come forward. At the same time, the council has launched a business survey, with partners across Staffordshire, to understand the impact of the coronavirus on them.

Richard Amison runs BottleCraft, a craft beer bar and bottle shop in the Cultural Quarter in Hanley. He employs seven people and six are now furloughed while the bar is closed. He said: “We found out about the small business grants from the Chancellor's statement at the daily TV briefings, and then we followed up by reading information on the council website and government website.

“The funding is going to help us to keep paying our team while we wait for the furloughed worker scheme to start paying out. It's also helping to keep the bar ticking over – even in hibernation – by making sure all the ongoing bills, such as fuel, rent and finance carry on being paid so when we do eventually come out of this we're not in arrears to anyone and are ready to re-open and trade straight away.

“We're doing OK now the funding has arrived. We were getting very worried a couple of weeks ago that we'd spend through our reserves before the end of April, so the arrival of the council grant support has really eased our minds. Other than that we're just trying to keep busy and keep the bar ready to go as soon as things change. Having weekends off is very strange when you work in our business, so that's taking some getting used to.

“We'd urge anyone who thinks they may be eligible to come forward, and even if you think you may not be it's worth checking out. This funding could be the difference between your business surviving or not – and it’s a grant, so there's no burden to repay going forward. The form was easy to fill in and payment was very straightforward, you've really got nothing to lose.”

Businesses can check their eligibility and fill in an application form via: www.stoke.gov.uk/businessratesgrants.

Council leader Abi Brown said: “It is wonderful to hear how this funding is helping our city’s hardworking businesses through this most challenging of times. We are doing all we can to ensure those businesses that are eligible for the funding can receive it. We urge any business that may be eligible to do as Gaynor, the Bradburys and Richard has done, and fill in the form on our website.”

A dedicated team is in place to support businesses of any size with business related queries, due to Covid-19. They can support with enquiries about property related matters, details about business loans or grants as well as information for the self-employed. They can be contacted on 01782 236878 or by e-mail at: business.growth@stoke.gov.uk.