MDDC has released more than £3million of grant funding to local businesses in a fortnight.

In March the Chancellor announced a host of measures designed to support small businesses which were facing financial hardship in the face of the Coronavirus lockdown period. With very little notice the Government handed the task to manage and distribute the funds to local authorities and since then MDDC staff have been working around the clock to ensure the money gets to our businesses as soon as possible.

The money was received by MDDC on 1 April and on that first day £230,000 was immediately sent to some of the first businesses who had applied to the scheme.

Since then staff have been working to increase the number of applications they are processing and are working through many detailed applications a day, with more than £2million given out in just one week alone. Since the scheme was announced by the Government MDDC has received around 650 applications and as of today (14 April) has released £3.5 million of grants.

Dean Emery, Group Manager for Revenues and Benefits said: “We are in unchartered waters dealing with such a huge volume of applications in such a short space of time, but we are so pleased we are getting the money out to the businesses that really need it so quickly.”

The speedy work has not gone unnoticed by local businesses with many organisations and business owners contacting the team with notes of thanks and appreciation.

Businesses can find out more about the grants available and watch a video to find out how to apply by visiting the MDDC Business Support Page.