Ealing council have paid grants to 4,170 businesses out of a total 5,000 who are eligible. The grants are processed and sent out daily. So, if you qualify it could still be on its way if you haven't received it already. 

Remember, if you do not have a live direct debit with business rates, the grant will be paid by cheque, and it will be sent to the named business rates holder at the address listed on the council database. Business rates cannot divert grant cheques to a different address, nor can they fulfil email requests for the money to paid into unknown bank accounts.  

Send your queries to businessratesteam@ealing.gov.uk It is essential to put your rates reference number, your business name and business address in the subject line.

More information about the grants and eligibility can be found here and on out Business News page.

Businesses that have received a grant will get a follow-up letter from the council asking them to log in to a government website to register their company details. Please do not ignore this letter. By accepting the grant, there is a statutory obligation to register the businesses details on the government portal, failure to do so could lead to a fraud investigation. 

We are waiting for official confirmation, but our understanding is the retail rate relief grants are taxable, not tax-free, we will update when we know more.  

 If you have any general queries, please do not hesitate to contact me, as I may be able to help you with some of the basic information. 

Make it Ealing has been working with Ealing council on the borough-wide COVID-19 Survey, which is ongoing so please have your say here.

The purpose of the survey is to gauge how businesses are coping and to start implementing free guidance and assistance strategies for businesses who have been catastrophically impacted by COVID-19. .

Cllr Julian Bell Leader, London Borough of Ealing, and Cllr Jasbir Anand Cabinet Member for Business & Community Services have written to Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP Chancellor of the Exchequer.

They have sent an analysis of the data collected so far, to ask Government for more support for SME's. Ealing has almost 6,500 SME business ratepayers that are not eligible for any grant support, yet the current situation has severely impacted them. Nearly 1,800 self-employed people within limited company structures do not qualify for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme, and 440 businesses in the creative, arts and cultural sectors do not qualify under the current guidelines. The letter highlights' 

• 47% of businesses have temporarily closed, with only 1% operating as usual.

• 13% have already made redundancies and further 6.5% in the process of doing so.

• 42% are suffering significant supply chain disruption, with 24% not confident of managing as a result.

• 56% are very or extremely concerned that they won't survive in the short term (less than 6 months).

• 50% are very or extremely concerned that they won't survive in the longer term (more than 6 months).

• 44% require immediate emergency assistance, evidenced by the fact that 40% of respondents were not eligible for any support in terms of rate relief or grant.

Leaders from Ealing council have outlined a further seven measures for urgent consideration to protect our SME's. 

1. Raise the rateable value thresholds for the Small Businesses Grant Fund (£15,000 currently) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (£51,000 currently) for businesses in London boroughs, so that small businesses and those in impacted sectors in London where property values and rateable values are higher, have access to grants.

2. Expand the provision of business rates relief and grants to businesses who are currently not eligible but are suffering as their income and turnover is directly linked to the Retail, Hospitality, Arts and Cultural, Recreation and Entertainment sectors.

3. Extend the Self-employment Income Support Scheme by increasing the qualifying thresholds for self-employed individuals and including individuals operating in a limited company structure.

4. Extend business rates relief to include all workspace providers and stipulate that workspace providers pass on this saving to their tenants. Allow tenants of workspaces who do not currently qualify for Small Business Rate Relief to apply for the £10,000 grant that other micro businesses and SMEs are able to access.

5. Bring greater levels of consistency and regulation into the commercial landlord sector to provide certainty to businesses who cannot afford to pay commercial rents during this time.

6. Extend the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme by raising the 80% Government underwriting to 100%, which could be capped at £50,000 and decide on a universal interest cap so lenders do not negotiate loans on commercial terms.

7. Amend the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) Regulations 2004 to allow BIDs to lower levy rates during 2020/21. Develop a system to subsidise and reduce BID levy payments, which could include paying the levies of businesses that are eligible for business rates relief and/or create a Coronavirus BID Grant Scheme so BIDS in most dire need can apply for funding to maintain basic operations during 2020/21.

You can read the letter in full here.

We are working closely with Carol Sam, Economic Regeneration Manager for Ealing council; she also sits on the Make It Ealing BID Board so we will keep you updated with developments. 

A campaign led by Croydon BID was launched on 22nd April called #Raise the Bar. With support from BID governing bodies and multiple Business Improvement Districts, we are backing the campaign to petition Government to raise the rate relief threshold from £51,000 to £150,000. The retail, leisure and hospitality sectors are worth £635 billion to our economy, they need Government support to survive. Find out more details and join the petition here.

The Mayor  has partnered with Crowd funder to launch #PayItForward London. It is a new scheme to help small businesses through this testing time. It allows a business to set-up a crowdfunding scheme so customers can pre-pay for vouchers, goods and services. By generating advanced sales, businesses will be able to ease their immediate cash flow issues. The service is entirely free and has a proven track record across the country with over 700 enterprises collectively raising over £1.5 million with the help of 32,000+ supporters who have paid it forward. The scheme could be a fabulous opportunity at zero cost, to engage with the community and create sales, so it is well worth investigating further here.

Inspector Leigh Ballard and local SNT officers Darren Boast, Ryan Hurt and John Michaelides are working extremely hard to ensure the lockdown rules are observed by following four basic principles; engage, explain, encourage and enforce as a last resort. The general crime statistics are lower, and the majority of people are observing the rules. ASB reports are slightly higher, due to breaches in the social distancing rules along with a few shops continuing to open when they should be closed as they are not an essential service. 

The BID office is still working remotely, but we are here to help you at any time. Contact Gerry or call 07943 720227. Natasha has been put on furlough as the lockdown has put most of her projects on hold. We have also sadly had to say goodbye to Nica, who did a fantastic job with our social media and business engagement over Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Luckily, she is an Ealing Broadway resident, so she will be staying in touch and popping in to see the many friends she made. 

Stay Safe and well and hopefully chat via ZOOM very soon!