Omicron Support Grants

Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant

The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant application window closed at midnight 18 March 2022.

Please allow us up to 14 days to deal with all applications.

The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) supports businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed business rates-paying premises, within the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors.

One-off grants of up to £6,000 will be paid to hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses that meet the eligibility criteria.

Which businesses will benefit?

Your business may be eligible if it:

Offers in-person services.
Where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed business rate-paying premises which pays business rates to Watford Borough Council (and is the register business rates account holder).
Operates in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors*.
Was trading on 30 December 2021.

* For the purposes of this scheme specific sector definitions have been defined setting out which businesses within each of the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors is eligible or not. You can check if your business is included in the eligible list.

How much will you receive?

The OHLG scheme is for businesses on the business ratings list only. Where a grant is issued, the business that according to the Watford Borough Council’s records was the ratepayer in respect of the hereditament on 30 December 2021 is eligible to receive the grant.

Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £15,000 or under on 30 December 2021 will receive a one-off payment of £2,667.
Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 on 30 December 2021 will receive a one-off payment of £4,000.
Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or over on 30 December 2021 will receive a one-off payment of £6,000.

You can find your business rates valuation online.

Ineligibility

Your business will not be eligible if it:

Is in administration, insolvent or has been struck off the Companies House register.
Has exceeded the permitted subsidy allowance.
Is not on the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) ratings list.

Subsidy allowance

This scheme is covered by three possible subsidy allowances:

Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance – you’re allowed up to £335,000 (subject to exchange rates) in Small Amounts of Financial Assistance over any rolling period of 3 financial years.
COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance – under this allowance you’re allowed up to £1,900,000 across all COVID-19 Business Grant schemes.
COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance - if you have reached your limits under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance and COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance, you may be able to access a further allowance of funding under these scheme rules of up to £10,000,000 across all COVID-19 Business Grant schemes.

Grants under these three allowances can be combined for a potential total allowance of up to £12,235,000 (subject to exchange rates).

Make an application

Applications are now closed.

Read our Omicron Hospitatlity and Leisure Grant policy online.

When making an application you will need:

Your business rate account reference number.
Company registration number (if registered with Companies House).
Your VAT number (if registered).
If you do not have a Company registration number or VAT number you will need to provide an alternative unique identifier, e.g. Self-Assessment Number, Partnership Number, National Insurance Number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, Registered Charity Number.
Your bank details.
A bank statement or headed paper alternative.

Additionally you will be asked to provide:

Name of business.
Business trading address, including postcode.
Nature of business.
Date business established.
Number of employees.
High level SIC code.

Due to the number of pre-payment checks we are required to make on behalf of central government and the volume of applications we are expecting, we are aiming on assessing applications and paying grants within 15 working days of receipt of a completed application.

The Government will not accept deliberate manipulation and fraud. Any business caught falsifying their records to gain additional grant money will face prosecution and any funding issued will be recovered, as may any grants paid in error.

Grant income received by a business is taxable. The OHLG will need to be included as income in the tax return of the business. Only businesses that make an overall profit once grant income is included will be subject to tax.

If you have any questions, please email our Business Grants team.

Please include the name of your business, business postcode, business rates account number and your grant application reference number (if you have one) in your email as this will help us to respond to your question faster.

Business support

There are further grant and business support programmes available from Watford Borough Council and its partners to support Watford businesses. Find out more about the programmes available on the Watford Business website.