The Liverpool Metro Mayor will today announce a £15m support package for the city region's firms.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said the money will be redirected from existing combined authority projects to support firms, the community and voluntary sector through the Covid-19 crisis.
That will mean a programme of support for hundreds of SMEs, £400,000 support for the cultural sector and £5m to improve the survival rate of the region's firms.
The announcement comes as Mayor Rotheram lays out in an open letter how the Liverpool City Region will move on from the crisis - and that he is already working with the councils on how it "bounces back as quickly as possible".
Making the announcement at the online launch of Gather later today, Mayor Rotheram will say: “We are locked in a battle with coronavirus on many fronts. This is not just a medical emergency, but a health and social one too.
“Right now, in addition to protecting lives and supporting frontline workers, I’m focussed on helping local businesses get the support that they need to secure their futures as well as those of their staff.
“I know that there are still gaps in support for too many businesses, but we are doing all that we can to help. There is no manual for dealing with a pandemic on this scale.
“Today, we’re bringing forward £15m of funding to help local businesses access the financial support and advice that is key to their immediate survival.
“As our region recovers from this – and it will – I want to use the lessons from this crisis to help shape the fairer, more inclusive economy and society that we are trying to build.”
The support package announced by Mayor Rotheram will include:
- £5m to support businesses to access national government funds and improve the survival rate of LCR businesses
- Increased flexibility for local authorities to use the £6m Town Centres Fund to support local high streets
- The launch of Sustain, a six-week programme of intensive support for 240 SMEs across all sectors
- The launch today of Gather, a programme offering free online support to Liverpool City Region SMEs working in the digital, creative and tech sector
- Mettle – an online business resilience programme, which will support 120 SMEs in the digital, creative and tech sector
- £400,000 to support micro-businesses and SMEs in the cultural sector, as announced yesterday (15/04/20)
