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54<br />
COVID Funding<br />
<strong>Wigan</strong> Borough businesses working in the wedding,<br />
events and entertainment sector will benefit from a<br />
financial boost to help them recover from the pandemic.<br />
<strong>Wigan</strong> Council will be distributing £1.5million of<br />
government funding in three phases over the coming<br />
months.<br />
Phase one is now live and will target businesses working<br />
in or supporting the wedding, events and entertainment<br />
sectors who may have been ineligible for national<br />
schemes or have not received grants since early 2020.<br />
The council recently asked borough businesses to<br />
complete a survey to understand how they had been<br />
impacted by Covid-19, if they had received funding<br />
previously and what future support they needed.<br />
The Leader of <strong>Wigan</strong> Council, David Molyneux said:<br />
“The survey was a vital exercise to highlight the barriers<br />
businesses have experienced over the last 18 months.<br />
“It was clear from the responses we received, as well as<br />
conversations nationally, that the wedding, events and<br />
entertainment sector felt forgotten, which is why we have<br />
prioritised them with this first round of funding.”<br />
Councillor Nazia Rehman, the local authority’s cabinet<br />
member for transformation and finance added “We’ve<br />
made a strategic decision to stagger the funds over three<br />
rounds in the coming months, each of which will target<br />
different businesses and will have different allocation<br />
processes.<br />
“Phase one has now opened, meaning that eligible<br />
businesses will benefit from a fixed payment of £1,000<br />
and the following two phases are expected to open later<br />
this year after our teams finalise the allocation processes.”<br />
Phase two will have two strands. The first will focus on<br />
larger, established businesses in the borough with high<br />
employment numbers and the second will be directed<br />
at businesses who can demonstrate a future growth<br />
opportunity. Further eligibility criteria applies.<br />
Businesses eligible for funding in phase one are asked<br />
to apply now via the council’s website. www.wigan.gov.<br />
uk/Business/Business-Support/Additional-Restrictions-<br />
Grants.aspx
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