Mobile hairdressers, self-employed tradespeople, driving instructors and taxi drivers in Bedford can now get help with one-off payment

Bedford Borough Council is now extending its business support grant scheme.

This will help businesses which do not operate from business premises but have fixed business costs - and have experienced a significant reduction in income due to Covid-19 restrictions.

A one-off grant payment of £500 or £1,000 (depending on the size of the business) will be made.

These grants are part of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), which is a fixed amount of funding from the Government and is intended to provide support to businesses right up until April 2022. £2million of the ARG will be put towards these grants.

They are not intended to replace income that has been lost due to restrictions or provide income to the business owner. The payment is to assist with fixed business costs.

An online form will be available in the coming days to enable businesses which are eligible to contact the council hereCllr Michael Headley, portfolio holder for finance, said: “We are pleased that we can now extend this support to a wider range of small businesses such as mobile hairdressers, self-employed trades people, driving instructors and taxi drivers.

“Having a clearer idea about the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown has enabled us to extend the support we can give from our limited government funding to help more businesses to meet unavoidable fixed costs.

“Throughout Covid-19 restrictions we have worked hard to provide as many local businesses with support as quickly and fairly as we can, and we will continue to do so."