The Folkestone & Hythe Discretionary COVID Business Grant Scheme

The Folkestone & Hythe Discretionary COVID Business Grant Scheme has supported some of the businesses that missed out  on the government's business support measures in response to the COVID pandemic. The scheme has now closed.

The council has been allocated approximately £1.2 million for this scheme.

Types of eligible businesses

Businesses eligible for our scheme are:

• Businesses in shared workspaces, such as business centres and business incubators that would have received a Small Business Grant or Retail Hospitality & Leisure Grant if they were business rate payers
• Bed & Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of Business Rates
• Holiday lets where the owner is a resident of the Folkestone and Hythe district.  Where an owner has more than one property a maximum of one grant is payable per resident  
• Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment and have a business address in the district
• Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.  These charities will not be required to meet the eligibility criteria relating to the impact of the pandemic, which was not a requirement associated with the allocation of a Small Business Grant previously.
• Creative businesses* based in residential or business premises with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000
• Retail, Leisure and Hospitality businesses that are ineligible for the SBG and RHLGF grant schemes because they were not included in the business rates register on 11 March 2020, including garages and MOT repair workshops and businesses in the supply chain to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.  This includes businesses sector which are home-based, that pay council tax rather than business rates and consideration will also be given on an individual case by case basis, to small & micro-businesses operating in business premises with a Rateable Value greater than £51,000
• Construction and training-related* businesses either operating from residences or business premises
• *Care Home businesses

Note*: See the defined 2007 SIC codes for businesses in these sectors.

Additional qualifying criteria

Additional criteria to qualify for a grant includes:

• The business operates from premises within the Folkestone & Hythe district
• The business occupies property, or part of a property with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000. However, consideration will be given on an individual case-by-case basis to applications from businesses in the Leisure and Tourism-related sector with a rateable value greater than £51,000
• The business was trading on 11 March 2020
• The business is not in administration, insolvent or does not have a striking-off notice
• The business has not received any cash grants from any central government COVID-related scheme (excluding the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self Employment Income Support Scheme )
• The business is classified as a 'small' or 'micro' business according to the government's classification **
• The business has suffered at least around a 25% loss of turnover or income from 1st April 2020 to 31 May 2020 compared to the same period in 2019
• The business has fixed business costs (rent or mortgage payments) that account for at least around 20% of monthly outgoings
• The business is eligible for grants under the EU State Aid De Minimis rules or the COVID-19 Temporary Framework for UK Authorities

** Notes:

To be a small business, under the Companies Act 2006, a business must satisfy two or more of the following requirements in a year:

• Turnover:  Not more than £10.2 million
• Balance sheet total:  Not more than £5.1 million
• Employee headcount:  Less than 50

To be a micro business, under the Companies Act 2006, a business must satisfy two or more of the following requirements:

• Turnover:  Not more than £632,000
• Balance sheet total:  Not more than £316,000
• Employee headcount: Not more than 10

Levels of grant

In this scheme there are three levels of grant available to businesses that are eligible:

1.  £25,000 - available to businesses which meet at least two of the following criteria:

• Turnover in 2019/20: Between £632,001 and £10.1 million
• Balance sheet total in 2019/20: Between £316,001 and £10.2 million
• Employee headcount: Between 11 and 49 employees on 11 March 2020

2.  £10,000 - available to businesses which meet at least two of the following criteria:

• Turnover in 2019/20: Between £150,000 and £632,000
• Balance sheet total in 2019/20: Between £75,000 and £316,000
• Employee headcount: Between 6 and 10 employees on 11 March 2020

3.  £5,000 - available to businesses which meet at least two of the following criteria:

• Turnover in 2019/20: Up to £150,000
• Balance sheet total in 2019/20: Up to £75,000
• Employee headcount: Up to 5 employees on 11 March 2020

Supporting evidence

Applicants will be required to provide evidence to support the eligibility of the business for the scheme and to determine the level of grant awarded. The types of evidence to be provided includes:

• Business registration and trading on 11 March 2020  - Companies House registration, FCA, Charities Commission registration, HMRC correspondence
• Employee headcount on 11 March 2020 - PAYE or personnel records for period covering 11 March 2020
• Loss of income due to COVID in April and May 2020  - Documents from your Bank, Accountant or Financial Advisors to demonstrate comparison with March and April 2019 or expected forecasts for March and April 2020
• Total income and balance sheet total in 2019/20 - Financial accounts for 2019/20
• Monthly costs , including fixed costs, in April and May 2020 - Bank account statements, annual rent or mortgage statements; lease/rent/mortgage agreements

If you have any questions regarding this scheme, please send us an email  or phone Dr Katharine Harvey on 01303 853287.