The UK councils in Sunderland, Devon, and Cornwall, have this week started making grant payments to cover wages, business rates holidays and cash grants, according to the Retail Gazette.
Sunderland City Council has started making grant payments to eligible businesses and organizations to the value of 3.34 million pounds.
The Retail Gazette said they were hammered by the Covid-19 lockdown.
At the same time, BDO found UK high street retailers suffered their worst month on record in March.
The BDO High Street Sales Tracker saw total like-for-like sales fall 17.9 percent for the month as shoppers stayed indoors.
In response to the Coronavirus, the UK Government announced there would be support for businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.
This grant scheme will offer a lifeline to companies who are struggling to survive due to the coronavirus shutdown.
With that, local authorities are advised to make payments as quickly as possible to support struggling businesses.
Payments consist of 10,000 and 25,000 cash grants administered by Sunderland City Council’s Business Rates team.
In Cornwall, an estimated 10,000 businesses have received funding to help cope with the impact, with the council having granted over 116 million pounds.
In-store sales dropped 34.1 percent after non-essential stores were ordered by the Prime Minister to shut their doors in the face of the pandemic.
