AN urgent call is being issued to eligible businesses across Barrow that have not yet applied for Covid grant funding.

The closing deadline of May 31 is now looming for the Local Restrictions Support Grant which has so far distributed more than £6m to over 500 firms in the borough. In addition, eligible first time applicants may also be entitled to claim a one-off Restart Grant which aims to help cover the costs of reopening after lockdown. The deadline for this scheme is June 30, 2021.

Councillor Ann Thomson, the leader of Barrow Borough Council, said: “Businesses across the borough have endured extremely difficult economic conditions over the last year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Most of our eligible businesses in the borough have already received grants from both of these schemes but there may still be a small number that haven’t applied yet.

“To these businesses we would say please check the criteria and get in contact with our team as soon as possible. This is money that doesn’t have to be paid back - it’s there to help and you should apply if you haven’t already.”

Applications can be downloaded from: https://www.barrowbc.gov.uk/coronavirus/financial-support-for-business-and-residents/