Coronavirus - Business and licensing

Details about changes to licensing and our working practices will now be in the business and licensing section of the website.

The best source of up-to-date information and guidance on Coronavirus is from the UK government.

Business grants

Additional Restrictions Grants (Omicron)

The Council accepted applications for its local Additional Restrictions Grants (Omicron). The funding allocation for this grant was limited and for this reason was specifically intended to support those businesses that had been severely impacted by the omicron variant and had experienced an increase in booking cancellations or had been forced to close their business due to staff-self-isolation.

The Council will prioritise the following types of businesses:

Coach/Tour Operators
Taxi Drivers
Bed & Breakfast establishments which pay council tax instead of business rates
Businesses that supply services to the Hospitality, Leisure and Events sectors (who are not entitled to an Omicron Mandatory grant)
Personal Care (such as hairdressers, beauticians)
Small independent retailers who have had to close their business or can demonstrate a significant financial impact due to Omicron
Businesses in other sectors that can evidence an impact on their business from Covid-19

You are not eligible to claim is your business falls into any of the below categories:

Businesses which had already received grant payments that equal the maximum subsidy levels as set out in the Trade and Corporate Agreement with the European Union
Businesses that are in administration, are insolvent or where a striking off notice has been made
Businesses that have received a Omicron Hospitality and Leisure mandatory grant
Directors who receive dividends
Businesses not listed above
Businesses listed above that have not been severely impacted by the Omicron variant

The application window has now closed. We will not be able to accept further applications due to the government's tight timescales on awarding grant payments.

We will be working as fast as possible to process and issue payments and would like to thank you in advance for your patience.

Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant Application

The application window for this grant has closed.

Keep up to date

We will be sending out regular email updates in our business newsletter. Join our mailing list to receive the latest business news and read previous editions.

We also encourage businesses across Gloucestershire to sign up for news from the Local Enterprise Partnership.

Financial support schemes

GOV.UK has details on all the financial support schemes available to businesses and how to check if you are eligible.

Working safely

Read working safely during coronavirus on GOV.UK. This government guidance is to help employers, employees and the self-employed understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic. The guides cover a range of different types of businesses.

There are separate guidelines for transport operators.

A guide on maintaining records for staff, customers and visitors to support NHS Test and Trace.

Test and trace

From the 24 September it will be the law for some businesses to display a NHS QR code poster to let customers check in with the Test and Trace app. To find out which businesses need to do this and to get a QR code poster visit the NHS Covid information for organisations website.