From Monday 10 August, visitor accommodation businesses in Guernsey and Alderney will be able to apply for financial support in the form of a new grant scheme.
The grant scheme will provide support from 1 October 2020 until 31 March 2021. Businesses will have three weeks to submit their claim, with the 31 August being the last day for submitting claims. After this the scheme will be closed to new claims.
The reason for this deadline is to allow time to carry out further analysis to finalise the value of each of the grants. Business will be notified of their eligibility and the value of the grant in advance of the 1 October start date. To submit a claim, businesses need to complete the online form which can be found here from Monday.
Further detailed guidance is also available online. The Policy & Resources Committee announced on 26 June that it was introducing the grant scheme specifically for businesses in the visitor accommodation sector, including hotels, self-catering and guest accommodation; and that would replace the current payroll co- funding scheme.
The introduction of the grant scheme was originally due to come into effect from 1 July but following further discussions between members of the industry and the Policy & Resources Committee it was agreed that the introduction would be delayed.
However the Committee made clear that by changing the start date of the new scheme, it would not change the overall level of funding it would provide – an estimated £6.5m. Therefore the value of the grants will be influenced by how much has been provided between July and October to businesses in this sector under the payroll co-funding scheme.
