If you have a business in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole which has been severely impacted by national restrictions and you haven’t yet received any other grant support, you have until Thursday 14 April to apply for sums of up to £10,000.

The Exceptional Circumstances Fund, which amounts to £750,000, is part of BCP Council’s Additional Restrictions Grants Stream 3 package of long term bounce back and business recovery support.

To be considered eligible for this grant scheme, businesses must:

1. Have not been eligible to receive or have not received Local Restrictions Support Grants or Additional Restrictions Stream 1 or Stream 2 Grants.

2. Have not been mandated to close but have been severely financially impacted due to the restrictions imposed by the government (over 50 per cent reduction in income compared with similar comparable periods of trade).

BCP Council may award varying levels of grants, based on the rateable value of the business premises. In the case of no rated premises, decisions will be based on unavoidable fixed costs.

Adam Richens, director of finance at BCP Council, said: “We encourage local businesses who think they may be eligible and who missed out on previous grant schemes to check the criteria on our website and submit an application for this support as soon as possible. Once the application window has ended and all applications have been reviewed, we will then aim to make payments as quickly and efficiently as we can.

“In addition, we have started the process for issuing around £23 million in government Restart Grants and will be contacting local businesses that we know to be eligible this week. This support is aimed at businesses in the hospitality, leisure, accommodation, personal care, gyms and sport sectors where the criteria is met. We aim to make the initial payments from next week and once this is completed an application form will then also be made available online.”

For more information or check the criteria for these grant schemes, please visit: bcpcouncil.gov.uk/financialsupport