Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has today set out a £1bn fund to help businesses hit by the rise in Covid cases, including the leisure and hospitality sector. Hospitality businesses like pubs and restaurants will be able to apply for cash grants of up to £6,000 per premises. The government will also help some firms with the cost of sick pay for Covid-related absences. He also announced an extra £30m to help theatres and museums. Many hospitality and leisure firms have been hit by a collapse in bookings and reduced footfall due to people’s fears over the spread of the Omicron variant. Mr Sunak said the new support was “generous” and recognised the situation facing businesses in the run-up to Christmas. Comment on the chancellor’s announcement, Nova Fairbank, Chief Operating Officer for Norfolk Chambers said: “These measures will provide some welcome respite to many of those businesses who have been hit hardest by the latest Covid measures. “The Chancellor and his team have engaged with the British Chambers of Commerce in talks over the past week, considered the experiences of Chamber business communities and the proposals the Chamber network has put to them. “We are pleased that the chancellor heard our call for additional grant funding for hospitality and leisure businesses, which will provide some much-needed support in the face of this increasingly difficult trading period. Clarity and speed will be needed to ensure that these grants are paid out swiftly to help these hard-pressed firms weather the next few weeks. “Whilst these measures are a positive starting point, if restrictions persist or are tightened further, then we would need to see a wider support package, equal to the scale of any new measures, put in place.” Photo credit: Getty Images/ Chamber Canva Pro 2022
