Swansea retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses, charities and not-for-profit organisations impacted by the current Coronavirus restrictions in Wales can now apply online for emergency financial support.

Funded by the Welsh Government and administered by Swansea Council, the new grant scheme is aimed at supporting businesses in these sectors which have been affected by the move to alert level two late last month.

Eligible businesses as well as those in their supply chains which are liable to pay non-domestic rates could be entitled to grants of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000, depending on their rateable value.

More information, eligibility criteria and both registration and application details are now available at www.swansea.gov.uk/CovidNDRbusinessgrants

All applications must be made by the deadline of 5pm on Monday February 14.

Cllr Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, said:

“Businesses across Swansea have been here for us throughout the pandemic, and we’ll continue to be here for them too.

“This latest package of support from the Welsh Government, reacting to disruption being caused by the Omicron variant and the current restrictions in place, builds on everything the council has done to support Swansea’s businesses and communities in the last two years. This includes the allocation of grants worth over £150m since the onset of Covid, as well as the commitment of more than £13m to over 50 projects as part of the council’s economic recovery fund so far.

“I’d urge all businesses, charities and not-for-profit organisations eligible for this latest package of financial support to apply on the council website by the application deadline. We estimate we will have around 4,000 grant applications to deal with but aim to process fully completed applications within seven working days. Any applications that require further checking or supporting evidence will of course take longer to assess. We have already paid out £864,000 to over 300 Swansea businesses and charities that have applied for the grants.”

Impacted hospitality and leisure businesses, as well as their supply chains, will also soon be able to apply directly to the Welsh Government for top-up funding from a new Economic Resilience Fund. Grants of between £2,500 and £25,000 will be available, depending on business size and the number of employees. The Welsh Government advise that applications for these grants will open during the week commencing Monday January 17, with more information available on the Business Wales website, where an eligibility checker is in place to help businesses gauge how much they can expect to receive.

Run by Swansea Council, an Emergency Business Fund discretionary grant scheme for businesses and sole traders who don’t pay rates will go live later this month. The fund will provide £500 to sole traders and freelancers and £2,000 to employing businesses in impacted sectors. The council will update the business community as soon as application forms for this scheme are available.