£5m package of support for small businesses in Barnsley approved

Barnsley Council will provide £3.5 million in rate relief for eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, capped at £110,000.

This relief will help around 630 local businesses, while national chains will be excluded from the scheme.

Rent reductions of 25 per cent will be offered to tenants of the Glassworks and Alhambra shopping centres, as well as traders in the borough’s markets, helping to keep costs down for small businesses.

During today’s (April 2) cabinet meeting, council leader Sir Steve Houghton CBE said that the authority was introducing help ‘when the borough needs it most’.

“We know it’s a difficult period in the economy and for particularly small businesses, so being able to help them absolutely matters,” he added.

Councillor Houghton emphasised that, alongside £4 million allocated for community enhancements and additional council funding to improve local roads over the next year, this comprehensive package of business support represents a significant total investment in the borough.

“People need to understand and recognize that we’re only able to do that because we manage effectively the council’s business, its services, and, of course, its finances. We’re doing it at a time when the borough needs it most.

“We’re regenerating the borough and the town centre and all the town centres… through capital investment in many other ways we haven’t mentioned today. It’s a difficult world out there, and we’ve got a government taking difficult decisions, which we don’t always agree with, but people shouldn’t lose sight of all the positive things that are going on in Barnsley, because they are. Compared to where it was 20,30, years ago, it’s thriving.

“Do we need to still do more? Of course we should. We’re not complacent.”