Release Date: 19/08/2011

Supporting riot-hit businesses

Richmond Council has thrown its weight behind a new fund being organised to help businesses across the capital affected by the riots earlier this month. The Council will contribute up to £50,000 towards a city-wide fund which all boroughs are being asked to support.

Banks and the Mayor of London are also contributing to The London High Street Fund, which will have charitable status. Grants will be targeted at small and medium-sized businesses which may not be able to receive help from other sources, such as those not directly affected by rioting, but which have suffered knock-on damage or loss of trade.

Cllr Geoffrey Samuel, Richmond Council’s Deputy Leader, said: “The pictures of the riots which we saw on our televisions were horrifying and what struck me most was how many innocent people’s lives across our city had been ruined at a stroke.

“This issue has affected the whole city, and it is right all boroughs play their part in bringing our great capital together to help shopkeepers whose livelihoods and, in some cases homes, have been lost. Although the majority of incidents were in Tottenham, Croydon, Brixton, Ealing and Clapham Junction, owners of these businesses will live all over London and it’s quite possible some live locally.

“People expect their councils to take a lead on issues such as this, and to help them when they fall on hard times. Together with other boroughs and Boris Johnson, this is what we are doing. Each borough making a small donation can together make us bigger than the sum of our parts and provide genuine quick help for those who cannot find it elsewhere.”

The Council is working with other boroughs to decide what an appropriate level of donation would be from those areas not directly affected by the riots. The maximum donation is expected to be in the region of £50,000.

View the full press release