THERE will be another £110m available to help businesses affected by the forthcoming ‘lockdown’ as Wales moves into level four restrictions.

The restrictions come into force on Christmas Eve and means all non-essential retail, leisure and fitness centres and close-contact businesses like hairdressers, nail salons etc will have to close at the end of the working day on December 24, with hospitality following at 6pm Christmas Day.

The £110m is in addition to the £340m already made available under the alert level three and is expected to help around 35,500 businesses.

So how much can your business get?

If a business in hospitality or non-essential retail receive small business rates relief and have a rateable value of £12,000 or less, they will be eligible for a £3,000 payment.

Businesses in the same sectors with a rateable value between £12,001 and £150,000 will be eligible for a £5,000 payment.

Tourism, leisure, retail and supply chain businesses in the same bracket will be eligible for the same support if their turnover has fallen by at least 40 per cent during the restriction period.

Eluned Morgan MS, minister for mental health, wellbeing and Welsh language, said: “We are making incredibly difficult but necessary decisions to protect the health and lives of our people.

“We recognise these decisions have a knock-on effect on our economy and this will be another blow to many businesses who have had to deal with so much during this incredibly challenging year.

“To support businesses affected by these latest restrictions we are making a further £110m available. We expect around 35,500 businesses in Wales will benefit from this support.”

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Economy minister Ken Skates MS said: “This latest package is in addition to the £340m for businesses we announced at the end of November, taking our total package for business support during this pandemic to more than £2bn.

“Our financial assistance has already helped protect thousands of companies and safeguarded 125,000 jobs. We are working hard to get funds out to businesses quickly as possible and in the last two weeks alone, almost £20m has landed in the bank accounts of our businesses.

“The vital additional support being announced today will be administered by local authorities and the Welsh Local Government Association and I want to thank them for their ongoing hard work and efforts to ensure money reaches the businesses quickly.

“Sadly rising coronavirus cases mean we must take action now to drive the virus down. We recogniser this is hugely challenging for businesses, but as a government, we will continue to do all that we can to protect them, our people and our communities through these difficult days.”

Businesses who registered for non-domestic rate support during the firebreak will be paid through their local authority. All other eligible businesses who did not register during the firebreak will need to do so with their local authority in January in January with payment coming soon after.

Businesses not eligible for non-domestic rates will be able to continue to apply to local authorities for a Lockdown Discretionary Grant of up to £2,000.

Visit www.businesswales.gov.wales/coronavirus-advice