The City of London is doing what it can to ease the economic pain of complying with corona vius strictures.  For information on local support for businesses, up to date, please go directly to – https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/business/support-promotion-and-advice/Pages/covid-19-advice-for-smes.aspx – but a quick summary includes:

Business rates relief and grants for small businesses. The government has announced retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England will not need to pay business rates for the 2020 to 2021 tax year. We will be applying this automatically to businesses in the City of London, you do not need to apply.

A grant scheme has also been announced by central government to assist Small Businesses with a rateable value of up to £51,000. The two schemes are detailed below:

• A £25,000 grant will be provided to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.
• A £10,000 grant will be provided to businesses currently eligible for Small business rate relief (SBBR) to help meet their ongoing business costs.

The City Revenues Team will issue payments directly to those businesses that qualify and no application will be required. Further information is available on our Business Rates page.​

Rental relief for City of London businesses. The City of London Corporation has agreed to make rental payments more manageable for its smaller business tenants as they deal with the financial strain of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The City Corporation’s Property Investment Board has agreed to change rental payments for the March to June quarter to monthly billing for directly managed premises. This replaces the current quarterly billing scheme and makes rental obligations more manageable for City Corporation tenants.

Please be sure to check the COVID-19: guidance for employers and businesses from the Government for the latest updates. Businesses should check for daily updates and subscribe to receive email alerts to ensure they are acting on the most up to date information.

JOINT STATEMENT FROM LORD MAYOR OF LONDON WILLIAM RUSSELL AND POLICY CHAIR OF THE CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION CATHERINE McGUINNESS

These are unprecedented times and there will be anxiety across the City – at a personal as well as a business level.

But we have seen difficult times before and have come through them by working together.

It is this same spirit of community, resilience and support which we are seeing as we respond together to the threat of COVID-19.

And we want the residents, workers and visitors to the City of London to know we at the City of London Corporation will do everything we can to help.

We will maintain critical functions and services for our communities.

We will support our vulnerable friends and neighbours.

We will work with all the front-line agencies to deal with this crisis.

And we will maintain confidence in this vibrant, thriving, dynamic and diverse City.

Of course, some of our major facilities may be closed temporarily, some of our events postponed and we will have fewer face-to-face meetings.

Some of the help we now give will be provided by modern technology and remote working rather than by hand.

But we will be supporting the City, to help employees, businesses and the financial system.

We will be sustaining our work on long-term competitiveness, for example by continuing our climate action work.

And we will be speeding the recovery so we are ready, whenever the moment comes, to relaunch a full and strong economy.

This is a crisis which will require the whole of our capital, and indeed the whole of our country, to work together.

We are very grateful to all those who are working so hard to keep essential services going.

We know these will be difficult and even unhappy times for many of our communities and businesses.

But the fundamental strengths of London will help us to recover and rebuild, as we have done before.

London will always be one of the world’s leading financial centres, a city of global talent with a highly-skilled workforce and more international HQs than any other European city.

The timezone that spans Asia and North America will not change.

And we will always be a city with thousands of pubs, hundreds of art galleries, more than 200 museums, beautiful open spaces and four UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This City has come through difficult times in the past but there are good reasons for a quiet confidence.

The City of London Corporation has always played its part in dealing with past crises.

Working together, we will do so again.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

Useful links

COVID-19: latest information and advice

COVID-19 Symptoms

Public Health England guidance for Employers and Business

PHE guidance on self-isolation

COVID-19: What is self-isolation and why is it important?

Self-isolation advice

NHS 111  telephone service or online assessment.

Employee Assistance Programme: 0800 0305 182

For more information please contact:

Nathan Rodgers

Media Officer

City of London Corporation

020 7332 3451

nathan.rodgers@cityoflondon.gov.uk