19/01/2022

Omicron Hospitality Payment Scheme Gets Underway

Land & Property Services has begun contacting hospitality businesses to confirm their details to enable the Omicron Hospitality Payment to be made.

More than 3,200 businesses – including; restaurants, cafés, coffee shops, bistros, snack bars, nightclubs, pubs, social clubs and private members clubs – will be eligible for a one-off grant payment of either £10,000, £15,000 or £20,000 based on their rateable value.

Businesses are being contacted by email if they previously received a payment under the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme (LRSS). The email will include a link to an online form, where businesses will be asked to confirm some relevant information and complete a declaration in order to enable payments for the Omicron Hospitality Payment Scheme to issue. These businesses should check their mailbox for this email, including Junk Mail folders.

If there has been no change in a business's circumstances, the payment should be with the business within 7 to 10 working days of their application, depending on how long the payment takes to clear through the banking system. If circumstances have changed, Land & Property Services will need to carry out some further validation checks and gather some additional information, which will require additional time to process.

A process has been put in place to allow new hospitality start-up businesses or those that had not previously applied to LRSS to apply for the Omicron Hospitality Payment. These businesses can apply by downloading an application form from the nibusinessinfo website.

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

20 November 2024
£17m To Support Pensioners Affected By Winter Fuel Payment Changes
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has announced a £17 million fund to support pensioners who have lost eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment due to recent UK government changes. The one-off £100 payment will be automatically issued to an estimated 250,000 pensioners in around 170,000 households before the end of March 2025.
28 January 2022
Omicron Hospitality Payment Scheme Extended
The Omicron Hospitality Payment scheme will be extended to include hotels and certain sports clubs, Finance Minister, Conor Murphy has announced. Under the scheme, following Executive agreement, hotels will be eligible for a one-off grant between £10,000 and £20,000 depending on their rateable value.
18 January 2022
Omicron Hospitality Payment Package 'Falls Short'
The Executive's Omicron Hospitality Payment package does not support all businesses affected by the current restrictions, the Green Party NI's Rachel Woods MLA has said. The North Down MLA said: "The £40 million funding package announced before Christmas only involved a one-off grant to hospitality businesses.
25 February 2022
Businesses Urged To Apply For Omicron Hospitality Payment
Businesses who have not yet applied for the Omicron Hospitality Payment are being urged to do so before the scheme closes at 23:59 on Friday 4 March 2022. To date, £34.1 million has issued to 2,731 businesses from the Department of Finance's Omicron Hospitality Payment.
09 February 2022
Finance Minister Announces Extension Of Omicron Hospitality Payment
The Omicron Hospitality Payment has been extended to include soft play businesses as well as inflatable and trampoline parks, Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, has announced. The move will see venues each receive a one-off £10,000 payment if they have a café on the premises.