Award-winning entrepreneur Liz Parry has urged fellow business owners to check their grant eligibility with hundreds thought to be missing out on tens of thousands of pounds of support.
The first round of coronavirus cash has now been issued in some areas, with the managing director of Grimsby's Abbys Group expecting hers to land on Monday, April 6.
With the original Abbys bistro, function business Upstairs@Abbys and Curious Cat bar, she was hit with a triple whammy as all were in the first wave of businesses to have to close.
The former Northern Lincolnshire Business Person of the Year and current chair of the area’s Visitor, Services and Retail Economy group also fears the sector may well be one of the last to return.
“We have no business left, we were among the first to close and we will probably be one of the last to re-open because there will be caution around social distancing, though I hope I’m wrong,” she said.
“The problem for all is cashflow and liquidity. The government came up with this grant and people might not be aware of the speed it is coming out at.
“We are getting ours on Monday, less than a week since we applied. I have heard of other councils sending out a letter - which is not a great help if the business is closed. The council here has got on with it rapidly.
“Everyone should apply for it, the worst case scenario is you are not eligible. It is a grant, you do not have to pay it back.” The form can be found at www.nelincs.gov.uk/coronavirus for businesses in the local authority area.
Abbys employs 35 staff, and the cash will be used to pay them while they await detail on the 80 per cent furloughing scheme - with a reclaim system anticipated - while also covering off suppliers.
“We will be able to cashflow that, pay the staff, get it back and have it again to pay them next time, then once the bills start coming in, as they do at the end of the following month, cover them too. The hope is people will still have a business there when it all comes back.”
Depending on a business’s rateable value, they can receive either £10,000 or £25,000, with several other schemes in place with the local authority, Humber Local Enterprise Partnership and banks and other lenders.
In business with her son, Lewis, they had just signed for a new premises in Abbeygate, to create an ethical eaterie.
“That’s on hold now, there aren’t the builders, and we’re not that desperate to call people out, Mrs Parry said. “It will open when it opens. There is no point rushing, the main priority is health, people following the guidelines and people staying at home.
“The council is doing a fabulous job in turning this around, with all hands on deck.”
