With the Covid-19 outbreak resulting in an unprecedented strain on the UK economy impacting businesses across all sectors and markets, Make It York and City of York Council have rolled out a number of business support initiatives over the last few months to help during this crisis. With £110m of Government grants and rate relief being provided to 4,000 businesses in York through the various grant schemes, Make It York are now calling for any businesses who haven’t been eligible for this funding to get in touch to find out more about the wider support available and to ensure information is captured about the sectors which need further aid in order for this to be fed back on a national level.
More than 4,000 businesses in the city have been supported with a range of initiatives– from free membership to the Federation of Small Businesses, to business grants and relief in their accounts. The micro grant and additional extended micro grant scheme launched by City of York Council has already seen 1750 small local businesses benefiting from £3.238m of grants to help in times of financial hardship, and aid businesses who missed out under previous schemes. A further 22 grants are still to be processed. Make It York have also been supporting businesses with one-on-one advice sessions – providing guidance in areas such as access to finance, training and how to adapt or diversify your business model during the crisis.
Any businesses who haven’t already been able to access funding are now being urged to contact the Make it York team to ensure a city-wide picture can be gathered of any areas of concern in order for this to be raised with national Government.
Sean Bullick, Managing Director at Make It York said, “Alongside City of York Council, the Make It York team have been working with businesses across all sectors – from start-ups and sole traders to SME’s and larger companies to offer advice and support throughout this challenging time. We are really keen to hear from any businesses in York that haven’t been able to access the government grant schemes available so that we can look at how we can work with City of York Council to lobby on their behalf for more government support.
“Our team can also provide wider guidance and advice across all areas of business – from funding and how to apply for grants, to business planning and funded training opportunities. Whilst it’s hugely positive to see how many businesses have already benefited from the support and Government funding on offer, we are keenly aware that there are those who haven’t been eligible thus far and it’s really important that we work with these businesses to highlight any city-wide concerns with Government.”
Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning said, “Businesses faced huge challenges to keep going during lockdown and are now planning ahead to survive. Every sector needs support to fight to save all the jobs that we can in the city- especially those that have not been able to re-open, or face months of dramatically reduced trading.
This initiative is to draw together the concerns of businesses across York with its specific economic pressures which we want to see fully represented in any future national and regional measures for support and re-growth.”
Businesses can contact the Make It York team on business@makeityork.com for more information about the support and guidance available.
For further information please contact:
Amy Goodman, Consumer Communications Manager
Email: comms@makeityork.com
