Recovery grants of up to £5,000 are available for businesses in Watford operating outside of the town centre.

The financial assistance is for businesses in shopping areas in the borough that have been impacted by Covid restrictions.

The Watford Neighbourhood Business Grant is designed to help businesses in these areas improve their offering to customers and encourage people to shop locally. This could mean sprucing up a shopfront, giving their premises a makeover, or developing websites to drive online sales.

Watford mayor Peter Taylor said: "Supporting Watford’s business community doesn’t mean just the town centre. There are fantastic businesses across the borough that have the potential to thrive and grow, and we want to give them the best chance possible.

"This grant will help businesses to deliver an even better service to their customers and will help revitalise our local shopping parades."

To apply to Watford Borough Council for a grant, a business must be based in Watford, be financially viable, and have been negatively affected by Covid-19 restrictions.

Although these grants usually require match funding from the applicants, the council is offering to cover 80 per cent of the costs, meaning that businesses need only supply 20 per cent.

The grant will be administered by the Watford Business Improvement District. Applications will close on August 31 2022 or when the total fund has been allocated.

Find out more at https://www.watfordbusiness.com/neighbourhood-business-grant