Businesses across the country are being encouraged to apply for remaining grant funding from local authorities to help them through the pandemic.

Hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses can still apply for one-off cash grants of up to £6,000 through the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme.

The funding is made up of £556m available through the £635m Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) scheme, which launched in January 2022, and a further £294m through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme which has been paying out funding since November 2020.

The Omicron scheme provides businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors with one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premise.

The one-off grants of up to £6,000 for eligible businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors, depend on rateable value: 

  • businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or above: £6,000 
  • businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000: £4,000 
  • businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or below: £2,667   

To provide further support to other businesses, the ARG scheme provides councils with funding they can allocate at their discretion to businesses most in need, such as personal care businesses and supply firms.

Small business minister Paul Scully said: ‘We’re working to get our economy running on all cylinders again so we can focus on making the UK the best place in the world to work and do business, creating jobs along the way.

‘Eligible businesses should apply as soon as possible for the grants available to help them put the pandemic behind them and get on a sounder footing.'