This grant scheme is for micro and small businesses physically based in commercial premises or residential premises in Hackney that were either:
- a) legally required to close during the December 2020 tier restrictions and the national lockdown from 5 January 2021 onwards (but are not business rate account holders and therefore not eligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grant); or
- b) not legally required to close during the December tier restrictions or the current national lockdown but have been severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of Covid-19 (either with or without a Hackney business rates account).
For those businesses in the second category (b above) we encourage and will prioritise applications from businesses who supply the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, businesses in the events sector, market traders (who are registered market traders with the London Borough of Hackney), and Ofsted registered nurseries and childminders.
If your business was legally required to close during the national lockdown starting in January and you are a Hackney business rates account holder you should apply for the Local Restrictions Support Grants and not this grant.
If you are unsure if your business was legally required to close by the government in December or January please review the documents below:
Exempt businesses: businesses based in virtual offices in Hackney who do not physically operate their business from a commercial or residential premises in the borough cannot receive a grant under this scheme.
The additional restrictions grant cannot be used to support staff wages or labour costs.
Who can apply
To apply your business must meet all of the following criteria:
- your business is based in the London Borough of Hackney physically operating from a commercial or domestic premises* or a London Borough of Hackney market trading pitch
(*if your business is operating from a domestic premises then you will be asked to confirm in the application form that this was your usual mode of operating prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. If you are now working from home as a result of Covid-19 but your business would normally operate from a commercial premises in Hackney, then please provide your usual commercial premises address in Hackney on your application form)
- your business is a micro or small business as defined in the Companies Act 2006 (ie your business must have at least two of the following; not more than 50 employees, a turnover of not more than £10.2 million and a balance sheet total of not more than £5.1m)
- your business must have been trading on the 1 December 2020, the day before the December tier restrictions came into effect
- your business is still considered to have been trading on the 1 December if it was an active business at this time, even if your business was closed to the public due to Government restrictions
- your business has been severely financially impacted by the December tier restrictions and the current lockdown period
your business is not in administration, insolvent or has a striking off notice made against it
- your business is not eligible for the local restrictions support grants
the grant will not result in your business exceeding the maximum levels of State Aid. Grant payments count towards the total de minimis State Aid that you are permitted to receive over a 3-year period which is €200,000. If you have reached that threshold, you may still be eligible for funding under the Covid-19 Temporary Framework. The limit for the Temporary Framework is €800,000
- your business was not an undertaking in difficulty (within the meaning of Article 2 (18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation) on 31 December 2019.
How much funding you will receive
For Hackney business rates account holders:
- businesses with a rateable value of exactly £15,000: £3,000
- businesses with a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000: £6,000
- businesses with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or above: £9,000
Where a business has a business rate account and a rateable value but their number of employees would put them in a higher grant category (as set out on this page), the number of employees will then be used to determine the amount of grant payable.
For businesses without a business rates account who don’t pay business rates, the amount of grant will be based the size of your business, using the number of full-time equivalent PAYE employees, excluding the business owner/owners (unless company directors are also PAYE employees and this can be evidenced in your application form).
- businesses with 0 employees (sole traders): up to £3,000 (home based businesses will receive £2,000, businesses who operate from a commercial premises will receive £3,000)
- business with 1-9 employees: up to £6,000
- business with 10 or more employees: up to £9000.
In some cases the level of ongoing fixed commercial business premises costs may also be considered to determine the level of grant.
Market traders/street traders
Market traders/street traders will receive a payment of either £1000 or £2000 depending on numbers of days traded in the borough and the anticipated scale of the financial losses as a result of not being able to trade.
When grant payments will be made
We expect to make Round 2 grant payments to all eligible businesses by no later than 30 April 2021.
Evidence needed
Before you begin your application form please ensure you have all of the following evidence available as electronic or scanned documents ready to upload.
If you don’t provide these documents then your application is unlikely to be successful.
- 3 months business bank statements from November 2020- January 2021 (inclusive): Please provide your business bank statements from November 2020- January 2021 showing the account holder name and address, bank name, sort code and account number and all transactions. The account details in the bank statements must correspond with the bank account details provided in the application form. business rates bill: If applicable you must provide a copy of your latest London Borough of Hackney business rates bill
- business premises lease, rental agreement, mortgage statement or market trading licence: You must provide a copy of your business premises lease, rental agreement, mortgage statement, or market trading licence. If you do not have an up to date business premises lease, rental agreement or licence please provide another up to date form of evidence to demonstrate your business is physically based in Hackney e.g a signed and dated letter from your landlord, recent utility bill for your business premises.
- confirmation of the amount of employees in your business: For businesses who employ staff you must provide a copy of your most up to date business payroll record showing the number of people (full-time equivalents) employed and paid via PAYE by your business.
- photographic ID: Please provide one current form of photo identification such as a current passport or driving licence
- HMRC self-assessment tax return: If you are a sole trader or are self-employed you must provide a copy of your latest HMRC self-assessment tax return
- evidence of the financial impact of the December tier restrictions and January onwards national lockdown on your business: In the application form you will be asked to provide written evidence of the impact of the lockdown on your business. Your answer should set out if you were open or closed during this period, if you were able to trade online, the financial scale of Coronavirus related losses during this period (for example % drop in sales, loss of income in £s), and the ongoing fixed costs your business has to pay (for example utility bills, storage fees)