A council opposition leader said he thinks the bar has been set "too high" for businesses looking to access a new fund aimed at mitigating the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses in Bridgend County Borough can now register for a portion of the £120 million Welsh Government funding to ease the impact of the Omicron variant.
Businesses in Bridgend County Borough who pay non-domestic rates will be entitled to a payment of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 depending on their rateable value.
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Businesses must be able to demonstrate a "material impact of greater than 40 per cent drop in turn over".
Leader of the opposition at BCBC, Independent councillor Alex Williams, said: “I welcome the financial support which has been provided by the Welsh Government but would have liked to see the support extended to all businesses which have to pay business rates regardless of whether they can demonstrate a 40 pre cent reduction in turnover.
"I believe that the bar has been set too high and that the support should have been offered to all businesses within this sector."
He added: “I very much hope that we will be in a situation whereby we can remove the restrictions at the earliest opportunity so that everyone can return to some kind of normality after what has been a difficult and challenging two years for the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors."
The funding is intended to cover the business impact from the 13 December 2021 to the 14 February 2022.
Businesses will need to re-register their details with the council in order to receive the payment.
Geraint Stanley, who co-owns the Old Castle Inn in Bridgend, said: "From our own perspective it doesn't benefit us in any way. We are a new business.
"We opened up on December 17, so we have got no records to show what our takings would have been.
"Although we have lost quite a large amount of trade over the period as a result of these restrictions, we are not entitled to anything."
On the difficulties the business has faced when restrictions were brought in amid the rise in Omicron infections, Geraint added: "We had only bee open for two weeks, at which point the restrictions were brought in.
"We have had to turn away a lot of customers, which has impacted us financially.
"The number of customers we have lost ranges in the hundreds."
"We have been quite fortunate because the community has supported us. We have got great support from the community and I cannot thank them enough.
"January is a quiet month for any hospitality [business] let alone our business being new.
"We have no choice but to ride the storm."
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic, we have taken a science-led and evidence-based approach to our response. The First Minister has set out the phased plan for Wales to gradually move out of alert level 2 and fully back to alert level 0 from 28 January. This will allow us to make sure the early signs of improvement continue before we make further changes.
“The majority of businesses are currently open and able to trade, but we appreciate the measures in place to protect the public and staff have had an impact on businesses.
“We engage regularly with the key industry stakeholders and our £120m package of emergency financial support covers impacted businesses for the period from 13 December 2021 to 14 February 2022. We have also announced a further £15.4m phase of the Cultural Recovery Fund. The funding packages we have announced are there to support costs including staff.
“We recognise the challenging circumstances businesses have faced as a result of the pandemic, which is why those in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors won’t have to pay any rates until April 2022. For 2022-23 the Finance Minister in the recent budget confirmed an additional £116m package of non-domestic rates relief for businesses in sectors hardest hit, which means retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will continue to receive non-domestic rates relief.”
Talking about the fund when it was announced, Bridgend County Borough Council Leader Huw David, said: “This £120m of funding from Welsh Government is a welcome relief for businesses across the county borough who continue to be affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“This fund will go some way towards strengthening resilience among businesses, expanding opportunities and safeguarding jobs.”
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