Thousands of business supported through lockdown

Almost 2,500 Ashford borough businesses have been supported during the coronavirus lockdown through the government’s grant schemes, with 97% of the funding allocation paid out, around £29m.

The schemes are now closed, with the council due to make final payments later this month.

Each local council was given an amount of funding based on the government’s assessments. The government will be reclaiming any unallocated funds.

The grants were aimed at helping small businesses who were badly affected or had to close during lockdown. The feedback we have had from some of these shows how invaluable the support was in keeping them afloat in unprecedented times.

A travel company based near Ashford, who was able to benefit from the council’s funding schemes, said: “I’d just like to commend you for your response to the current situation. Ashford Borough Council have been so refreshingly pro-active and helpful to the businesses under its jurisdiction, it has been such a relief to have such a speedy and efficient system for information and application.”

A cross-council team worked hard from March to ensure eligible businesses were paid as quickly as possible. This included working with them to get the evidence required to make payments and contacting those we believed would be eligible but had not yet applied.