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RBKC News, 27.01.2022.

Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Omicron Fund

Use this link to apply for: The Government’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Omicron Fund.  This will close for applications on Thursday 10 February 2022 at 5pm. 

On Tuesday 21 December 2021 the Government introduced a new, discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Omicron Fund to support businesses struggling as a result of the Omicron variant.

The Council has received £580,000 of the discretionary ARG Omicron Fund to distribute to local businesses and has taken the decision to allocate this via a Discretionary ARG Omicron Grant Scheme.

The Discretionary ARG Omicron Scheme will be open to all eligible businesses within the Borough continuing to be impacted by COVID. 

However, given the limited discretionary funds made available, the decisions on award of the ARG Omicron grant will be prioritised in line with consideration of the following:

  • The sector that the business falls into (e.g., Hospitality, Leisure, Accommodation, or retail)
  • The sufficiency of the evidence of trading activity. The business must have been trading on 30 December 2021 (i.e., not have ceased trading) 
  • The severity of the impact faced by the business based on assessment of financial documents (bank statements and trading receipts) and a 500 characters summary explanation by businesses, with priority given to those assessed as facing the greatest impact from Omicron
  • Access to previous Government grants (including the latest OHLG, Business Rates Grants, previous ARG grants including Restart/ Return to Trading discretionary grants, where payments have been received during 2021) with priority given to those who have received little or no grant support previously. 

The grant may be taxable, depending upon the circumstances of the business.  

The Discretionary Scheme will close for applications on Thursday 10 February 2022 at 5pm. All applications will be considered after this closing date. Applications received after the closing date/time will not be accepted.

Please ensure all information requested is submitted as part of the application as, due to strict government timelines to complete all payments, no follow-up will be made with businesses to chase missing or insufficient documentary information. These applications will be deemed ineligible, and the businesses emailed and notified of the rejection for grant.  

The application form can be accessed and completed here within the section ‘Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Omicron Fund’

Please note: This grant is a separate scheme to The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) scheme that was also announced on the same date. 

Quick links:

As businesses continue to operate post-pandemic, we want to make sure that you have all of the guidance and support you need. You can keep up to date with information on safe reopening on our website at www.rbkc.gov.uk/reopening-business. 

RBKC Pavement licences.  Register via the Council website.

RBKC Hospitality business helpline is 020 7361 2161.  Open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm for help with matters directly related to re-opening.  Please leave a message.

RBKC’s e-newsletter.  Get alerts to latest support including grants, subscribe to Business Matters here.  Also follow us on Twitter. 

RBKC One Place for Business.  Links you to all the business information pages on our website, including Covid19 support for businesses

Business Membership Organisations and Trade Associations.  Providing support for specific sectors e.g. Arts, Architecture, Aviation and many more.  See list here.

London Business Hub. Advice for London based businesses. www.businesshub.london with an EU Post-Transition Business Resource Hub.  Also on Twitter

Greater London Authority.  Crowdfund for your small business with Pay it Forward

UK Government Financial Support.    Use the checker tool to find out what coronavirus financial support is available for you.  The Recovery Loan Scheme loans varying in size from £25,000, up to a maximum of £10 million.