LevellerLive

Further to our update on business grants yesterday, Somerset West & taunton council have confirmed they have already paid out £9.7m to nearly 800 businesses applying for Small Business, and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business grants so far.

Despite the earlier advice from Government to do nothing and wait for the council to contact you, please do not wait.

The fastest way to get cash into your business if you qualify for a grant, whichever of the Somerset District Council areas you live in, is to contact the council direct.

For Somerset West & Taunton, any eligible businesses that have not yet provided the necessary information can find out more and upload their details via this link on our website https://www.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk/business-rates/business-grants-covid-19-response/

Please be aware of fraud and scams, and remember

• SWT won’t cold call you to ask for your bank detail or rate account number on the phone or by email.
• We have not employed any external companies to assist with Business Rates Grants; this is a process that we are completing ourselves
• Do not provide this information to anyone claiming to be from the Council or acting on behalf of the Council
• Only submit these details via the ‘submit your details’ button on the SWT webpage.

You might want to know that SWT have now started a regular newsletter to ensure the business community has access to relevant and timely information during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The newsletter, delivered by e-mail, will keep businesses up to date with:

• Covid 19 activity which the Council is undertaking directly in support of businesses and employees, including the self employed
• Useful and timely information regarding webinars with support and guidance for businesses from other professionals and businesses that may be able to offer advice and help
• Business membership networks that may be offering events and webinars for which others my join for free or subscribe
• Asks of intelligence from businesses in specific sectors that are seen by Government as particularly vulnerable so we can feed your issues up to Government through our partners at the Local Enterprise Partnership and cross County working on a weekly basis.

To join the mailing list, please sign up here: http://eepurl.com/gChznj