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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today (21 December 2021) announced an additional £1bn in financial support for the hospitality and leisure sectors, with every business able to claim a one-off cash grant worth up to £6,000.
The Chancellor said that he is taking the measure due to the current situation being ‘very difficult, especially for those in the hospitality industry’, as coronavirus cases continue to rise steeply.
Samantha Jones, an Associate Director at Prop-Search, said: “Following guidance to work from home and to prioritise social engagements - with rising Covid cases and fears over the spread of the new Omicron variant - many offices have emptied out and Christmas parties have been cancelled, financially hurting hospitality businesses.”
Announcing the new economic support package, the Chancellor said: “The grants that I’ve outlined, up to £6,000, are comparable to the grants that we provided for hospitality businesses when they were completely closed earlier this year – so there is a benchmark for you.”
It is thought around 200,000 UK businesses will be eligible for the business grants which will be administrated by local authorities and will be available in the coming weeks.
The Treasury is also providing a £30m top-up to the Cultural Recovery Fund - which supports institutions’ such as museums and theatres - and is reintroducing the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme which allows small and medium sized companies to claim compensation from the Government for the cost of their employees’’ sick pay.