Cheltenham council hands over almost £5 million to support town's businesses

Published by

Nicky Godding

Cheltenham Council says it is one of the first councils in the UK to start paying grants to eligible businesses

To date, almost £5 million has been paid to over 300 Cheltenham businesses, with more payments being made on a daily basis, as part of a £24.5 million package of Government support for the borough.

Councillor Steve Jordan leader of the council said: “Cheltenham BID have brought to our attention their significant concerns from many commercial tenants on the level of rent payments still expected. These are shared by our local MP, Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses Gloucestershire.

‘’Whilst we are aware that lots of positive action is being taken by many landlords to support their tenants, from this unprecedented financial storm of closed doors, no cash flow and mounting bills, we would urgently encourage those landlords who have not yet contacted their tenants to do so immediately to explore what interim solutions can be agreed to ensure the continued viability of important local businesses.

‘’We are also aware of many innovative local arrangements between landlords and tenants, and local business professional bodies; such as the BID and FSB, are able to provide examples of solutions that have been agreed to ensure local businesses can remain viable.

‘’I and other representative groups believe that there is both a moral, ethical and commercial imperative for landlords and tenants to work together to ensure Cheltenham’s business community is best placed for when the situation changes.

‘’We fully understand that this will equally impose a short-term impact on the financial standing of property portfolios, but against this will be the risk of losing tenants permanently and facing long-term voids, given not only the length of the disruption but the unknown length of the recovery for each and every business.’’

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.