Chancellor offers non-essential retailers grants for closed stores

Revealing new measures costing £4.6bn, Sunak said retail, hospitality and leisure businesses affected by closures could claim one-off top-up grants worth up to £9,000 per closed store through to the spring. 

The grants will be based on the rateable value of stores with £4,000 offered per store with a rateable value of £14,999 a year or under; £6,000 for a value of between £15,000 and £51,000 a year; and the top £9,000 grants for stores with a rateable value in excess of £51,000.

Sunak also set aside £594m to support other impacted businesses, on top of £1.1bn of existing grant funding measures and the furlough scheme, which was extended to April 30 at the end of last year.

While the Treasury announcement mentions the existing business rates holiday and furlough scheme, both of which are set to end in April, it did not say whether either or both would be extended. 

This follows the announcement by Boris Johnson last night that England would be placed into another full lockdown lasting until at least mid-February, following rapid escalations in the number of coronavirus cases. 

Sunak said: “The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the spring.

“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

British Retail Consortium director of business and regulation Tom Ironside said: “The announcement of additional grant funds is welcome but we need to be assured that they are not constrained by state aid requirements if they are to provide the level of support urgently needed by those who have been forced to close for a third time. 

“Furthermore, with retailers losing £2bn per week, such grants are unlikely to be enough to protect otherwise viable firms from going bust, costing shops and jobs. The key policy the government should implement is to extend business rates relief from April for those hardest hit by repeated lockdowns.”