Omicron: Rishi Sunak announces one-off £1bn grant for hospitality sector, and £6k for businesses

Rishi Sunak announced a £1 billion bailout for the hospitality sector today [Tuesday] amid the spreading of the Omicron variant seeing businesses being hit by a wave of cancellations in the run-up to Christmas.

Restaurants, pubs and bars will benefit from the bailout.

One-off grants of up to £6,000 each to help to mitigate the impact of restrictions will be offered by the Treasury to hospitality venues.

The chancellor of the Exchequer said the government will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers across the UK

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