Covid-19 – Grant Schemes

In late May, Sheffield CAMRA wrote to local councils regarding the Government funded Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme, encouraging them to try to ensure that this support reaches every pub and club possible to help make sure they are still there when we can visit again. We received a very positive response from Sheffield City Council: ‘if you are aware of any Pubs in Sheffield that might be eligible but have yet to submit details I would recommend that you urge them to do so. The grant funding is for eligible businesses in need of support and we want to make sure they get what they need.’ – Councillor Mazher Iqbal, Cabinet Member for Business & Investment Hence, we then emailed every pub/club in our branch area for whom we have an email address supplying them with a link to an exploratory letter located on our website. This email was sent on 31st.May. By the end of the day 82 recipients had followed up the link, a subsequent 178 following. We are very pleased with this level of response – many recipients would have already applied for the grant while, to others, it would be seen as a possible opportunity. We believe that a number of local pubs/clubs have received funding as a result of our urging. As of 23rd.June, in Sheffield, of an available £113,068,000, 7577 local businesses have claimed £90,050,000. On 17th.May, the number of successful applications was 6677. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses Dave Pickersgill