The London Business Hub will be accepting applications from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for Covid-19 Recovery Grants this month. If your business relies wholly on custom from the Visitor Economy you should apply on 10 November, and for small businesses working in all other sectors (Wider Economy) on 17 November. Applications will be open for 24 hours at 10.00am.

Eligible SMEs will be able to secure grants of between £1,000 – £5,000 to help them access professional, legal, financial or other advice and/or new technology and other minor equipment to address their immediate needs in response to the impact of the pandemic.

The funds are limited and based on the remaining funding pot sizes, this would amount to approximately the following number of grants available to those businesses who are successful in obtaining the grant:
Visitor Economy (remaining fund £243,085): Between 48-81 grants
Wider Economy (remaining fund £104,567): Between 21-36 grants

Please note:

• SMEs can apply for 100% of the costs, but funding will be paid in arrears. Businesses will receive the fund after they have accepted the offer and have purchased and received the support or items that the grant has been approved for.
• In all instances, the London Business Hub will need to see copies of supplier’s invoices and a copy of the statement from the dedicated bank account for the business, evidencing that payment has been made to the relevant suppliers.
• Should an offer be made, successful applicants will have one calendar month (from the date of the grant offer letter) to accept the offer and purchase and receive the support/items that the grant has been approved for and submit a grant payment claim.
•  The VAT element of any support or purchase is not eligible for grant support.
• The grant cannot retrospectively fund activity that has already started.
• Applications will open at 10am and remain open for a 24-hour period on the 10 and 17 November. Please ensure that you have submitted your application by the cut-off point. Applications not submitted by this point will not be considered. Please allow ample time to complete the application form. Applications will close as stated above and any applications that are in progress and have not been submitted by the deadline will not form part of the ballot.

Covid-19 recovery grants are funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

All information and criteria to assess an SME’s eligibility and prepare for the grant application are available here and you can read FAQs here.