Restart Grant scheme
Applications for this grant are now closed.
This page relates specifically to business Restart Grants from the 1 April 2021 onwards.
Please note this scheme closes on 30 June 2021 any applications received after midnight will not be processed.
Information about business grants up until 31 March 2021 is available: Local Restrictions Support Grants
Please do not contact us directly about this grant scheme, we are busy working to get this application process launched as soon as possible, whilst managing the other grants schemes that are still running.
The Restart Grant scheme is a new one-off grant provided by the government for businesses that fit all of the following criteria:
- Businesses that occupy properties that are in the ratings list
- Businesses that were trading on 1 April 2021 – trading is carrying on a trade or profession or buying and selling goods or services in order to generate turnover, including:
- Businesses with staff on furlough
- Businesses that continue to trade online, via click and collect services etc.
- Businesses not in liquidation, dissolved, struck off or subject to a striking of notice or under notice
- Businesses engaged in business activity – managing accounts, preparing for reopening, planning and implementing COVID-safe measure
- Business that are in the following sectors:
- Strand one
- non essential retail
- Strand two
- hospitality
- accommodation
- leisure
- personal care
- gyms/sport business premises
- Strand one
- Businesses must offer ‘in-person’ services from the premises that they are applying for
- A business would not be eligible if its in-person activity does not take place within the rated property. This means that suppliers of services to the events and hospitality industries (for example), would not be eligible for a Restart Grant, unless their properties main use is to provide direct in-person services to members of the public.
- Businesses that are within the Subsidy Allowance Limits
How much will be awarded?
The grants will be awarded as follows:
| Strand | Business types | Rateable value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £15,000 and under | £15,001-£50,999 | £51,000 + | ||
| One | Qualifying non-essential retail businesses | £2,667 | £4,000 | £6,000 |
| Two | Qualifying hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gyms/sport business premises | £8,000 | £12,000 | £18,000 |
Businesses will be eligible for this support from 1 April 2021. Subject to subsidy allowance conditions (previously referred to as State Aid), businesses will be entitled to receive a grant for each eligible property. Some businesses may receive more than one grant where they have more than one eligible property.
Businesses that have already received grant payments that equal the maximum permitted subsidy allowances will not be eligible to receive funding. Please see further detail regarding subsidy allowances below.
Information we need to issue Restart Grants
The government require us to record the following information for all grants issued:
- Name of business
- Business Trading address including postcode
- Unique identifier – ONE of the following
- Company Reference Number
- VAT Registration Number
- Self- Assessment/Partnership Number
- National Insurance Number
- Unique Taxpayer Reference
- Registered Charity Number
- High level SIC Code (a list of codes can be found at the bottom this page)
- Nature of Business
- Date business established
- Number of employees
- Business rate account number
- Cumulative total of previous funding received under all COVID-19 business grants schemes
As we didn’t collect all of this information as part of previous Covid-19 grant application forms, we are going to have to ask you to complete a new form to claim this grant. We appreciate this is not ideal and that we do have some of this information already, but the new Government reporting requirements mean we have to collect additional information for all Restart Grant applicants.
We have tried to keep the application process as simple as possible for you. You can get ready to apply by gathering together all of the information listed above so you have it to hand when the application form is ready for you to complete.
Applications for this grant are now closed.
What happens next?
Once we have your application, we will check the information provided to confirm we have everything we need to make your payment.
We are expecting a large number of applications to be received in the first few weeks of the scheme. We have a team in place ready to deal with these and have the valuable experience of dealing with the prior Covid-19 grant schemes, so we aim to review and pay all eligible claims within 28 days of receipt, but hope many will be paid much quicker than this.
To help us help you quicker, we ask that you wait at least 28 days from submission of your application before contacting us to chase your payment and that you check your bank account for payment before doing so. The more customer enquiries we have to deal with, the slower the overall process will be. If we need more information from you to process your claim, we will contact you using the telephone number and/or email address on your application form.
If you have not heard from us or received payment within 28 days, please also check your Junk or Spam folders before contacting us, to see if we have tried to contact you.
Subsidy allowance
Subsidy allowance has now replaced State Aid following the end of the transition period and the UK’s exit from the EU.
The Restart Grant scheme is covered by three subsidy allowances:
- Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance: you’re allowed up to £335,000 (subject to exchange rates) over any period of 3 years
- COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance: you’re allowed up to £1,600,000;
- COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance: if you have reached your limits under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance and COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance, you may be able to access a further allowance of funding under these scheme rules of up to £9,000,000, provided certain conditions are met.
Grants under these three allowances can be combined for a potential total allowance of up to £10,935,000 (subject to exchange rates and certain conditions being met).
Further details are available in the Subsidy Allowance overview. Alternatively, visit GOV.UK Complying with the UK’s International Obligations on Subsidy Control.
High level SIC codes
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing |
| B | Mining and quarrying |
| C | Manufacturing |
| D | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply |
| E | Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities |
| F | Construction |
| G | Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles |
| H | Transportation and storage |
| I | Accommodation and food service activities |
| J | Information and communication |
| K | Financial and insurance activities |
| L | Real estate activities |
| M | Professional, scientific and technical activities |
| N | Administrative and support service activities |
| O | Public administration and defence, compulsory social security |
| P | Education |
| Q | Human health and social work activities |
| R | Arts, entertainment and recreation |
| S | Other service activities |
| T | Activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use |
| U | Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies |
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Eligible businesses
| Support type | Type of business |
|---|---|
| Non-essential retail (up to £6k) | Betting offices, departmental stores, markets (other than livestock), sales kiosks, showrooms, e.g. kitchen, bathroom, tile, glazing, tobacco and vape stores, antiques stores, sales offices, travel agents, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, clothes shops, book shops, auction rooms, car auction, car showrooms, car supermarkets, car washes (standalone), car/caravan, sales/display/hiring sites, charity shops, carpet stores, furniture shops, sofa shops, homeware shops, florists, plant nurseries, jewellers, stationery shops, gift shops, make-up shops, animal groomers, sweet shops, photography studios, independent libraries. |
| Hospitality (up to £18k) |
Food courts, public houses/pub restaurants, roadside restaurants, wine bars, cafes. |
| Leisure (up to £18k) |
Bingo halls, bowling alleys, casinos and gambling clubs, cinemas, ice rinks, museums and art galleries, roller skating rings, stately homes & historic houses, theatres, zoos & safari parks, amusement parks, pleasure piers, pavilions, conference centres, exhibition centres including for use as banquet halls and other events, wedding venues, events venues, heritage railways, public halls, night clubs & discotheques, hostess bars, sexual entertainment venues, shisha bars, waterpipe consumption, venues, arenas, concert halls, go kart rinks, model villages, tourist attractions, aquaria, miniature railways, theme park, amusement arcades including adult gaming centres, animal attractions at farms, wildlife centres, botanical gardens, circus, visitor attractions at film studios, soft play centres or areas, indoor riding centres, clubs & institutions, village halls & scout huts, cadet huts etc. |
| Accommodation (up to £18k) |
Caravan parks, caravan sites and pitches, chalet parks, coaching inns, country house hotels, guest & boarding houses, hostels, hotels, lodges, holiday apartments, cottages or bungalows, campsites, boarding houses, canal boats or other vessels, B&Bs, catered holiday homes, holiday home. |
| Personal care (up to £18k) |
Spas, sauna and steam rooms, hairdressing salons, tanning salons, nail salons, massage centres, massage treatments, tattoo and piercing studios, holistic therapy (reflexology, massage, acupuncture), barbers, groomers, beauty salons, beauticians, aesthetics, other non-surgical treatments. |
| Gyms & sport (up to £18k) |
Dance schools and centres, dance studios, gymnasia/fitness suites, cricket centres, ski centres, sports and leisure centres, outdoor sports centres, outdoor adventure centres, squash courts, tennis centres, sports courts, swimming pools, shooting and archery venues, driving ranges, water sport centres, golf courses. |
Which businesses are not eligible?
Excluded businesses include those that are not in the rating system, long-term empty or undergoing major works on 1 April 2021, and those that have already received grant payments that equal the maximum permitted subsidy allowances.
Businesses that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made, are not eligible for funding under this scheme. Other businesses not eligible are listed below, please note the lists are not exhaustive:
| Type of business | |
|---|---|
| Retail | Food retailers, including food markets, supermarkets, convenience stores, corners shops, off licences, breweries, pharmacies, chemists, newsagents, animal rescue centres and boarding facilities, building merchants, petrol stations, vehicle repair and MOT services, bicycle shops, taxi and vehicle hire businesses, education providers including tutoring services, banks, building societies and other financial providers, post offices, funeral directors, laundrettes and dry cleaners, medical practices, veterinary surgeries and pet shops, agricultural supply shops, garden centres, storage and distribution facilities, wholesalers, employment agencies and businesses, office buildings, automatic car washes and mobility support shops, bureau de change. |
| Hospitality | Food kiosks and businesses whose main service is a takeaway (not applicable to those that have adapted to offer takeaways during periods of restrictions, in alignment with previous COVID-19 business grant schemes). |
| Leisure | All retail businesses, coach tour operators, tour operators and telescopes, kennels and catteries. |
| Accommodation | Private dwellings, education accommodation, residential homes, care homes, residential family centres, beach huts. |
| Personal care | Businesses that only provide personal care goods, rather than services; businesses used solely as training centres for staff, apprentices and others; businesses providing dental services, opticians, audiology services, chiropody, chiropractors, osteopaths and other medical or health services, including services which incorporate personal care services, treatments required by those with disabilities and services relating to mental health. |
| Gyms & sports | Home gyms, home exercise studios, home sports courts and home sports grounds. |
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