As of yesterday (1 April), sailing clubs up and down the country are already beginning to benefit from the £22 billion grant and business rates package recently announced by the Chancellor.

Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure industry such as sailing clubs, will be eligible for a one-off grant payment dependant on the club’s rateable value. Those with a rateable value of less than £15,000 will receive £10,000 and those clubs with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 will be provided with a grant of £25,000.

Business rates have also been suspended from sailing clubs for the next 12 months.

The government has assured businesses that every local authority in England has now received the full amount of grant funding that they need to support their local businesses. The funding has been transferring to local authorities since the announcement at the weekend, ensuring that grants can be received by businesses as soon as possible.

The duty is now in the hands of the local authority to contact businesses regarding the grants and to formalise the transfer of funds. It has been reported that local authorities may be contacting businesses either via letter or by email this week. As the clubhouse is usually the registered business address for sailing clubs this may cause a delay in receiving notification due to the current travel restrictions omitting access to clubhouses.

The RYA suggests that sailing clubs should contact their local authority and ask for any communication to instead be via email, or for any essential letters to be temporarily re-directed to a more convenient address.

If you or your club require any further information relating to accessing a business grant, visit the government’s dedicated business advice and support pages here.

You can also call the government’s Business Support Helpline, details of which can be found here.

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