New government data show that £21.3 billion was allocated to micro, small, and medium sized businesses in England, including in the Stretford and Urmston constituency through the Covid-19 business grants scheme. The grants were allocated to support businesses in many sectors of the economy, including accommodation and food services, wholesale and retail, and arts, entertainment and recreation.
The new data includes a sector breakdown for the first time – shows over one-third of all available funding was allocated to the accommodation and food services sector, a part of the economy hit hardest by the pandemic. The grant scheme was created by the UK government and administered in Stretford and Urmston by Trafford Council, which allocated most of their total available funds to businesses in need.
The latest figures show that some of funding for Trafford includes:
- 413 Omicron Hospitality and Leisure grants totalling £1,520,071 paid out from a total government allocation of £1,812,069 which enabled one-off grant funding to support to hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses;
- 10,765 grants totalling £23,474,674 paid out from an allocation of £32,878,619 through the Local Restrictions Support Grant and Christmas Support Payment which was partly used to support businesses forced to close due to Covid-19 lockdowns;
- 1287 grants totalling £10,537,400 paid out through the £12,840,408 allocation through Restart Grants to supports businesses in the non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure, personal care and accommodation sectors; and
- 359 grants totalling £2,376,250, which was the total government allocation, paid out through the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund to support small and micro businesses that were not eligible for other grant schemes.
Commenting on the updated statistics, local Conservative activist, Gary Towers said “Our small businesses across Stretford and Urmston are vital for the local economy and their efforts both during and since the pandemic have been heroic.
“In many cases, the government-funded Local Authority Business Support Grants were essential to businesses who found themselves really struggling and who are now able to recover, grow, and look to the future. By putting billions of pounds into business recovery, the government has stood by its commitment to the small businesses across Stretford and Urmston and beyond.”
