If your business is required to close by law or to significantly change its operations due to COVID-19 restrictions from 2 November 2020, you may be eligible to apply for the Strategic Business Framework Fund. In the context of this fund, sporting businesses should define themselves as a leisure business.  There is no guarantee of success, but rated sporting businesses have as good a chance as any other rated business provided they can prove temporary closure or that they have adopted a significantly modified way of working.  A significant top-up to the grant support available for Scottish hospitality, retail and leisure businesses closed by level 4 restrictions will also be paid. You can apply for a:

• Temporary Closure Grant – £2,000 or £3,000 (depending on rateable value) if your business is required to close by law.
• Business Restriction Grant – £1,400 or £2,100 (depending on rateable value) if your business can remain open but is specifically required to modify its operations by law, for example having to close earlier than normal. This does not include where a demand for your products or services has been reduced because of the pandemic.

Grants will be paid every 4 weeks in arrears as long as restrictions last. Eligible businesses will also get a one-off grant of:

• £25,000 for larger hospitality businesses on top of the 4-weekly £3,000
• £6,000 for smaller hospitality businesses on top of the 4-weekly £2,000
• £9,000 for larger retail and leisure businesses on top of the 4-weekly £3,000
• £6,000 for smaller retail and leisure businesses on top of the 4-weekly £2,000

Businesses that haven’t yet applied for the Strategic Business Framework Fund should submit an application as soon as possible through their local authority website. Applications are now open. For more information about the fund and the one-off grant, please visit the Scottish Government website (see here and here).