More than £6million in small business grants has already been paid to over 900 eligible City of Wolverhampton businesses within a month of the latest round of Government funding going live.

This relates to financial support for businesses forced to close due to the current national lockdown and includes the mandatory Local Restriction Support Grant (Closed) and one-off business support payment.

Hundreds of applications continue to be dealt with and details on any of the grants, eligibility criteria and how to apply, can be found at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/businessgrants.

Businesses are being urged to remain patient and not duplicate applications, as this may result in a business’ original application being delayed, investigated or rejected.

If you are unsure which grant you should apply for or have a general query, you can get in touch with the Council by emailing business.grants@wolverhampton.gov.uk or calling the business support phoneline on 01902 290242 between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Thursday or from 9am to 4.30pm on Fridays.

Councillor Stephen Simkins, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “This latest funding relates to businesses forced to close in the current lockdown.

“We also continue to work hard to process applications from hundreds of businesses impacted in all sorts of ways by national Covid-19 restrictions since November.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and we are doing everything we can to make it as quick and easy as possible for them to access the grants available, this includes redeploying staff with appropriate financial systems knowledge from other parts of the council.

“I am urging Wolverhampton businesses to head to the business grants web page and find out what funding is available to them.

“Over the course of the pandemic we have ensured thousands of eligible businesses have had quick access to vital funding to help them through this most difficult time.

“We are ensuring the latest grants are allocated swiftly and that no business is left behind as our city looks to recover from the financial impact of Covid-19.”

City of Wolverhampton businesses not eligible for the Government’s Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) under the current lockdown can apply for the Council’s discretionary schemes.

They include an additional one-off payment and the latest Additional Restrictions Grants and are available to businesses that are open but have been significantly affected due to the current lockdown restrictions.

The discretionary scheme is also available to closed businesses not eligible for the national Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed).

All grant application forms submitted by businesses are subject to thorough eligibility checks.

Further communication with businesses may be necessary if any of the required information is missing.

Full details of the latest Government business support measures can be found at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.