Chamber welcomes Minister’s hardship fund

Belfast Chamber Chief Executive Simon Hamilton said: “The announcement by the Economy Minister that a hardship fund could be operational as soon as next week will be warmly welcomed by the many members of Belfast Chamber who have, thus far, been unable to access any grant support from the Executive. A number of weeks ago, Belfast Chamber identified and highlighted gaps in the grants schemes. These were due to both the use of the rating system as a qualification criteria and the limits in terms of sectors and size of businesses who could apply. This resulted in a significant number of businesses who have had to close and can’t trade because of the necessary restrictions put in place by Government to stop the spread of COVID-19 not being able to get grant support that, in some cases, businesses that remained open could get.

“In an attempt to address this unfairness, Belfast Chamber urged the Executive to introduce an emergency support scheme and we are immensely grateful that our plea has been listened to and a hardship fund seems to be on its way. Belfast Chamber wishes to thank the Economy Minister for her support and look forward to businesses in the city and across the region starting to get the help they need soon”.

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