Chancellor’s £350bn aid pledge will provide ‘much-needed relief’ for rural businesses

New measures include:

• Business loans of up to £5m with no interest due for the first six months.
• Cash grants of up to £25,000 for smaller businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value less than £51,000.
• An increase in the £3,000 cash grants to 700,000 of the country’s smallest businesses, announced in the Budget, to £10,000.
• A 12-month business rates holiday extended to all shops, pubs and clubs.

Support

Responding, a CLA spokesperson claimed the fiscal package would relieve the financial pressure on farm businesses as they came to terms with the COVID-19 outbreak.

The spokesperson said: “It is encouraging to see that the Chancellor has pledged to make £350bn available to the economy.”

While the CLA welcomed the announcement, the spokesperson urged further support was needed in the residential letting sector, in order to ensure ‘adequate levels of liquidity’.