Chamber announces £100,000 fund to support members

The North East England Chamber of Commerce has today (March 23) announced a financial package of £100,000 to support businesses in the region.

The fund will be allocated as a rebate on Chamber membership fees for a specific period of time to member companies that are struggling to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Affected members can apply for a 50 or 100 per cent rebate on their membership subscriptions for the next months.

The application process for the rebate is simple in that all members need do is tell the chamber what impact COVID-19 has had on their business, and confirm whether they are applying for 50 or 100 per cent fee relief.

If the application is successful, the Chamber will credit their membership account with the appropriate sum, and adjust or suspend payments for the next three months.

James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the Chamber, said: “These are extremely challenging times for all of our businesses, and we need to work together to get through them.

“We have reserves, so it is only right in time of need, such as this, we use them to their best advantage.

“Every day we are getting tremendous feedback about the value of our support in terms of general advice and the work of our staff who are constantly reaching out to businesses to identify what they need.

“We consider it of paramount importance that, as a region, we remain in close contact and also feed any specific challenges to Government letting them know where help is needed.”

Information on business measures relating to COVID-19 and general support available is being constantly updated on the Chamber website: www.neechamber.co.uk.