How well is your local authority doing in getting government coronavirus money to businesses?
This is a question Business West has been posing to local councils on whose response could well decide the survival of many of our small businesses here in Gloucestershire.
Readers of this blog will remember that I had made several requests to Stroud District Council for how much money they had received from Government and how much in these grants had so far been paid out.
Well, after over a week of trying they finally came up with some figures which will be pleasing to local business.
They tell me they have received £26 million for the two small business grants which it is now distributing direct to their bank accounts.
And the council has an estimated 2,250 businesses eligible to receive these monies.
As of April 9, Stroud has now distributed grants to 900 businesses worth £10.4 million.
That means the council has distributed grants to 40 percent of the eligible businesses.
Well done.
And I take back any criticism I have made of the council appearing to be tardy.
But this process is life or death for many of our small businesses in the county as we enter the fourth week of the government’s lockdown.
You can see how our councils are doing in sending money to small business by going to this section of our website.
So far, 40,000 businesses have come to our Trading Through Coronavirus website. We are, therefore, in a position to help business with their many queries to help them through this crisis.
I think our councils need to now start to plan how they can play their part in helping business to recover once the lockdown ends.
Our local companies deserve nothing less.
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