Industry Update: 13 January

The new lockdown grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and how you can apply

Last week the Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed a new £4.6 billion programme of extra support for businesses affected by the third national lockdown, including packages for businesses within the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors of up to £9,000. Here’s everything you need to know about the Local Restrictions Support Grant:

How much is my business entitled to? 

The Local Restrictions Support Grants are open to any hospitality, retail and leisure sector business with a physical premise that has had to close due to the latest lockdown and will be closed until at least mid-February.

The amount each business owner will be offered will be based on the level of business rates typically paid, as follows:

  • £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
  • £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
  • £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000

How do I apply for the new top-up grant? 

All businesses need to apply for a Local Restrictions Support Grant through their local authorities.

Find your local authority here.

The Government is giving the new funds to councils to distribute to businesses large and small, as it did back in November during the second national lockdown. It should therefore be simple for councils to work out which new top-up grant each business is entitled to, as the entire process is being run through the same system as it was in November.

I am not eligible for a Local Restrictions Support Grant, but I still have to close for lockdown or have been impacted. What help can I receive? 

The Chancellor also announced a £594 million discretionary fund intended to support those businesses impacted by the latest lockdown, but that are not eligible for the retail, hospitality and leisure top-up grants.

These may be businesses like market traders and home-based operators, who do not pay business rates and are therefore not eligible for the top-up grants. These funds may also be available to businesses who do not have to shut down due to the lockdown but have been severely hampered in operation.

As with the top-up grant, all businesses should apply to their local authority to ask for support. As per the name of these funds, they will be given at the discretion of local authorities.

Further information 

For further detail on the Local Restrictions Support Grant, including more about eligibility, please read this page on the UK Government website.

For advice and other areas of support please visit and make use of our Tourism and Hospitality Support Hub that outlines all the support available. From the hub you can also access Business Growth Hub’s Business Support Service which offers a full suite of advice and signposting for things like access to grants, as well as the Tourism and Hospitality Talent Hub which can help you or your employees with skills, training and recruitment.

Manchester Misses You campaign reactivated

With the re-introduction of national lockdown we’ve turned our ‘Manchester Misses You’ campaign back on across our digital platforms. The campaign aims to inspire from the sofa providing vibrant virtual content including cultural and education experiences about Greater Manchester that can be enjoyed whilst staying at home.

The campaign is being supported with a social media campaign and new content from our members is welcomed. Please send your contributions to Stuart Aiken. Please note that following an instruction from Greater Manchester’s ten local authorities, we are no longer promoting outdoor spaces or walks so all new content submissions should be specifically for things to enjoy at home.

We are especially keen to receive video content that we can host or promote, including documentaries or films about Greater Manchester. Two examples of content that have been particularly well-received on social media include our music film Manchester Music Then and Now: Music Worth Fighting For, which can be viewed on the Visit Manchester website and the Manchester episode of the fantastic Britain’s Most Historic Towns, which can be viewed on Channel 4’s All4 streaming platform.

Sign up now for Invest North

Marketing Manchester is proud to be a channel partner for Invest North, a new one-day virtual conference which takes place in March 2021 and will examine how the North can move forward and accelerate its post-Covid recovery.

Curated by TheBusinessDesk.com, the event will bring together an exceptional line-up of speakers including some of the brightest minds and passionate voices as well as insight, analysis and original research that will make it an inspiring and informative event that you can’t afford to miss.

The virtual conference takes place on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, and tickets are now on sale at investnorth.uk for an early bird price of £30+VAT; however, Marketing Manchester partners and stakeholders can take advantage of a special discount code for you and your contacts to receive a further 15% discount. This code is: Channel15.

This is a must-attend event for anyone interested in the direction and leadership that will set the agenda for post-pandemic growth.

In case you missed it: Music Worth Fighting For documentary

Before Christmas we launched our documentary Manchester Music Then and Now: Music Worth Fighting For, which is a must-watch for music fans, featuring big names from Manchester’s music scene past and present, including New Order, Blossoms, and The Courteeners.

A labour of love for the Marketing Manchester team, the documentary was filmed over the last 18-months and initially set out to showcase the strength and diversity of Greater Manchester’s contemporary music scene, but was then adapted to reflect upon the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The film was created with support from VisitEngland’s Discover England Fund.

Launching within the context of the Governments renewed appeal to Stay At Home, we were delighted to partner with the multi-award winning digital broadcasting platform United We Stream Greater Manchester and its counterparts in London, Brighton, Milan and Tbilisi to premiere the documentary on Friday 18 December.

On the night we estimate that in excess of 10,000 people tuned in to watch, which was undoubtably helped by some fantastic media coverage in titles including NME, the Manchester Evening News, Decoded Magazine, Manchester’s Finest and The Manc, as well as social support from artists and creatives that feature in the film such as Shaun Ryder.

Following the premiere, the film is now hosted on a special page on the Visit Manchester website and can be viewed freely, so if you want to ditch the telly one evening during lockdown, please give it a watch and then post your thoughts about it on social media using #MusicWorthFightingFor.

To learn more about the documentary, please see our full press release here.

Partner and industry news

Tourism and Hospitality Support Hub

Throughout the Covid-19 crisis the Tourism and Hospitality Support Hub has been available to ensure that tourism and hospitality businesses are given the most up to date information including reopening standards and guidance.  In addition, our colleagues in the Business Growth Hub have launched a new suite of support services specifically aimed at tourism and hospitality businesses who need practical advice at this current time.  Anyone who needs specific and detailed support should  contact: supporthub@marketingmanchester.com

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