Caithness councillor urges businesses to 'take a serious look' at grant schemes
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Councillor Matthew Reiss is urging local firms to "take a serious look" at business grant schemes being administered by Highland Council after it emerged that many in Caithness and Sutherland are missing out on potential support.
The Covid-19 small business grant and self-catering grant schemes – set up to help companies survive during the coronavirus crisis – have now paid out £59,628,750 to more than 5500 Highland businesses.
But the local authority is concerned that some areas of the region have seen fewer applications than others, with only around 50 per cent of businesses Caithness and Sutherland coming forward.
Councillor Reiss (Thurso and Northwest Caithness) said: "While you might feel reluctant to apply for this help, that's what it's there for and I would like to encourage people to take a serious look at the scheme. Council officers are ready and waiting to help and it's a bit concerning maybe half of the relevant businesses in the county have not taken this up.
"Please have a read of the scheme and check to see if this money could help you."
The council says it has processed 99 per cent of the applications received since the schemes opened. Applications continue to come in every day but, based on estimates of the number of eligible businesses, uptake is still lower than expected.
The local authority's head of development and regeneration, Allan Maguire, said: "We know from our non-domestic rates register that there are still many businesses who may be eligible who have not yet applied.
"While some may not require this support, as their sector may be impacted less than others, we do know further businesses are eligible and would encourage business owners to check the information on our website.
"Also of some concern to the council is the fact that certain areas of Highland have seen fewer applications than others. More than two-thirds of the businesses in the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey areas expected to be eligible for the business grant scheme have applied, whereas only around half of those in Caithness or Sutherland have done so."
Mr Maguire added: "Recognising that businesses in some of our most rural areas can face the biggest challenges, we are particularly keen to see more applications from eligible businesses in these areas.
“Business owners who are unsure whether they qualify for the grant schemes are encouraged to go to the council’s website and follow the links to the guidance and application form.”
