Help is on the way for virus-hit businesses, says county

llanblogger exclusive

* A picture from our files of a deserted Castle Street.

Denbighshire County Council is aiming to make payments to most businesses that have applied for help with the enforced coronavirus shutdown in the next two weeks.

That is the message from the local authority after llanblogger passed on a complaint that no local businesses have yet received any payouts.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Welsh and UK Governments recently announced a range of measures to support businesses, including grants.

The person who got in touch with llanblogger said in a message: “The problem is that they are still being processed manually by DCC.

“Obviously, this is going to take quite some time but whilst businesses are still having to fork out for staff wages mild panic is starting to set in.”

In response, the county council said yesterday afternoon: “A payment run of £1m was processed on Friday, another payment run of about £2.6m will be processed today.

“BACS payments take three working days to clear usually. 

“Two payments runs a week will be processed from now on.

“It is hoped most payments will be made to those that have applied over the coming two weeks.

“We are administering this grant on behalf of Welsh Government and we are prioritising this work, however the number of payments that need to be assessed and process is very large.”

The Welsh Government initially earmarked £1.4 billion to support businesses dealing with the coronavirus impact, which includes rate relief schemes and business grants.

It later announced a further £500 aimed at supporting those firms who would not qualify from previously announced support packages.

The new £100m Development Bank of Wales fund will be available for companies who are experiencing cash flow problems as a result of the pandemic and will provide loans of between £5,000 and £250,000 at favourable interest rates.

Businesses will also be able to benefit from a £400m emergency pot providing:

• Grants of £10,000 for micro-businesses employing up to nine people.
• Grants of up to £100,000 for small and medium sized firms with between 10 and 249 employees.
• Support for larger Welsh companies, which are of critical social or economic importance to Wales.

The £500 million Economic Resilience Fund will support businesses forced to temporarily cease trading – to go into “hibernation” – or which need cash-flow support to adapt to a remote way of working.