City of York Council has opened a new round of Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funding for York businesses affected by Omicron.
On 21 December 2021, the Government announced that a further £102m will be made available for local authorities through Additional Restrictions Grant funding to support businesses severely impacted by the rise of the Omicron variant but not able to receive any other form of Covid-19 grant support. York’s share of this top-up is £300,786.
Interested businesses can find more information about the funding, its eligibility criteria and our application process by visiting the council’s ARG webpage. Businesses are encouraged to read the eligibility criteria carefully and ensure that they have the necessary documentation to support their application.
The council is determined to distribute the funding to businesses in need of help as quickly as possible.
Councillor Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning said: “Although national Covid-19 restrictions have lifted, this remains a very challenging time for many of our local businesses some of whom saw cancellations hit their business over what had been hoped to be a busy Christmas period. The key aspect here is to maintain jobs across the city recognising that some businesses are under pressure.
“I encourage York businesses to apply for the latest round of Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funding. The scheme has previously proved to be a lifeline to local small businesses and the latest round aims to support sectors most severely impacted by the rise of the Omicron variant including travel and tourism, companies dealing with events, and the personal care sector as well as other businesses missing out on previous Government schemes for whom we have been making representation to Government.
“We thank businesses for their patience and understanding whilst we have set up this new process. We continue to update our webpage so ask that businesses visit it for the latest information.”
Councillor Nigel Ayre, Executive Member for Finance and Performance said: “These have been an exceptionally difficult past two years for businesses in York and we continue to do all we can to support them. Since the start of this pandemic we have administered over 25,000 grants with a value of more than £113 million of government grants to York businesses, applied all available business rates support and invested £1 million in additional local support.
“Earlier in the pandemic we were among the quickest paying local authorities and we have been working to get support to businesses as swiftly as we can. We are now in a position to open a new grant application process so businesses affected by Omicron can access the latest round of ARG support. Businesses can also visit our website to view the eligibility criteria and how to apply. Our teams will process applications as swiftly as possible so that businesses get these grants as soon as possible.”
