Getting small business grants in London is impossible if you have to deal with more than one council, and the Government has made no provision for that. I’m a young entrepreneur who started Chai Guys, selling authentic Indian chai, last year in two boroughs, and my business is registered in a third.
It was going great until Covid. We’ve had to temporarily close our stores. I contacted each council where I pay rent to apply for a grant. Tower Hamlets (Spitalfields Market) and Westminster (Victoria Kiosk) told me to contact Brent, where my business is registered. But I don’t pay rent in Brent so the council referred me back to Tower Hamlets and Westminster.
It’s incredibly unfair that my application is being kicked around like a football. The government has not made clear which council should pay, or how businesses that pay rates indirectly through rent can claim. A lot of businesses pay rent directly to a landlord so don’t have a business rates account. The Government is out of touch and businesses will fail because of it.
Gabriel Unger, Chai Guys
Editor's reply
Dear Gabriel
It is appalling that you’re trapped in this Kafkaesque bureaucratic nightmare. It is hard to imagine the extra stress that being passed from pillar to post must bring at this incredibly difficult time for your business. There must be thousands of other small businesses in a similar situation to you. Time is of the essence. The Government needs to sort out the rules on this as a matter of priority so you can claim the support you are entitled to.
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor
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Tony Howarth
