Businesses reminded they must make a fresh application to receive grant funding from Shropshire Council

The £667,500 pot will provide grants of £2,500 to 267 businesses across the county who have been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

The council have urged businesses to get their applications in for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant if they have not done so already.

It comes as a lower than expected number of firms have applied, which has led to fears that businesses are not aware they must make a fresh bid.

Councillor Ed Potter, deputy leader and cabinet member for economic growth, regeneration and planning, said: “We are pleased to be able to support a range of businesses through this grant funding but are totally aware that there will be a lot of disappointed businesses who again will be missing out.

“We are doing all we can to support the business community, especially in areas where are hardest hit.

“But we have only been given a relatively small pot by government to support this and have tried to write criteria which will help those worst hit.”

The new discretionary scheme will be supporting those who are in the hospitality trade but are not the rate payer; event caterers who can show they have lost business across the winter period, travel agents and tour operators.

“We know that there are many more businesses out there eligible for this pot – and we are urging them to get in touch as soon as possible,” Mr Potter said.

“The team here have done a magnificent job in getting more than one and a half million pounds out of the door to support almost 500 firms.

“But there are many more who meet the criteria but have not applied – this could be because they expect the payment to processed automatically.

"Sadly this is not the case, you must lodge a fresh application and I would urge you all to do so.”

To apply for a grant visit shropshire.gov.uk/covid19darg.