Posted on Broad Street Ward Interest, Wider City of London Interest

Corona Virus – City Of London Information Sources

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.