Finance Secretary Kate Forbes (pictured) has urged businesses eligible for a top up grant from the Strategic Framework Business Fund to apply to their local authority by the final deadline of Friday 5 February.

The one-off payments are available to eligible hospitality, leisure and non-essential retail businesses.

Firms that have already applied to the Strategic Framework Business Fund do not need to reapply for the top up – it will be issued automatically if they are eligible.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said:

“Since the start of the pandemic we have allocated more than £3 billion to support businesses – this is more than a third of overall COVID-19 spend.

“The FindBusinessSupport website has information on all the support available and I would encourage businesses to check the website for more information on how they can apply.

“If your business is required to close by law, do not delay in applying for support from the Strategic Framework Business Fund.

“As the prevalence of the virus has increased, so has our support to business.

“We continue to look at how we can support businesses further, driven by business feedback, which is why we increased support by £225 million in December to reflect the tighter restrictions in place and the need for sector specific funding.

“Of the £776 million in business support we’ve announced since October, 94% is now live, and the remaining funds will go live in the coming weeks.

“Businesses also continue to benefit from non-domestic rates relief financed by the Scottish Government, in addition to the UK Government furlough scheme.”