An online grants checker has been developed to help local businesses identify the financial support they could be entitled to claim as a result of Covid-19.

Although Teignbridge District Council has paid out millions of pounds to thousands of businesses over the past year, it believes that there are still some who have not claimed money which would help them cope with the impact of the pandemic.

Feedback suggests that the number of different grant schemes available means that some businesses are not sure what they are entitled to claim and whether they can apply under more than one Government scheme.

To make it easier, businesses can now go to the council's website to access a 'grant checker'.

It's a simple, quick questionnaire which will immediately show which grant schemes the user is eligible for and how to make a claim.

The new checker builds on the recently introduced summary grants table showing all Covid-19 available business grants and summarising the criteria that must be met for any application to be successful.

The aim is to simplify the application process and prevent applicants from having to submit the same information more than once, while maintaining sufficient robust checks to prevent fraudulent applications.

'A useful and much-needed tool'

Executive Member for Business, Economy & Tourism Nina Jeffries said: "Our aim throughout the pandemic has been to help businesses to get the financial help they need by swiftly responding to government support initiatives and setting up simple application processes.

"As the number of grants has increased, understanding what they could be entitled to claim has become harder for businesses so this new Covid-19 Business Checker should help them overcome these problems and enable them to swiftly and simply apply for grants.

"It's a very useful and much-needed tool that I think will really help reduce an aspect of administrative stress businesses in Teignbridge are facing.

"I would advise local businesses to take a few minutes and use the checker to see what grants are available to them and then to submit an application.

"We want to make sure that local businesses get support where they need it and can continue to contribute to the local economy of Teignbridge both now and in the future."