Sefton Council scoops North West title for backing small businesses during the COVID pandemic

Sefton Council has been awarded a prestigious ‘best in the region’ award for its support for the local small business community.

Sefton scooped council of the year in the COVID-19 Support and Recovery category which is a testament to its fantastic work supporting businesses during the pandemic.

Biggest impact
It was among 250 councils in England who entered the inaugural Local Government Awards run by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the UK’s ’s biggest business representative group, ultimately emerging triumphant. Sponsored by Maybe, the FSB’s inaugural Local Government awards, were aimed at celebrating and recognising those that had made the biggest impact on local SMEs during the Covid crisis and beyond.

At a virtual online final on Friday, 14 October, Sefton Council was named as the North West regional champion, with judges being impressed by the council’s work to help the local small business community during the pandemic.

Delighted
Responding to the news, Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “During the COVID pandemic, our Invest Sefton and Business Rates teams paid out a total of over £100 million in grants to hundreds local businesses to support them, so I am delighted that work has been recognised through this FSB award.” 

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulatory Compliance and Corporate Services said: “It was an unprecedented time and I am so proud of the way our teams adapted quickly to enable them to provide so much this financial and practical support to local businesses.”

High-quality field of entries
FSB Area Leader for Merseyside and Cheshire, Michael Sandys – himself based in Southport – said he was pleased Sefton Council’s hard work had been recognised amid a high-quality field of entries by local councils.

“It is really pleasing to see Sefton Council rewarded for its hard work and effort to help local SMEs through what has been a very challenging couple of years,” he said.

“Both the quality and quantity of entries from this region and beyond was incredibly high so Sefton should feel very proud to be among the winners. We look forward to continuing to work with Sefton – and all our other business-supporting councils – to ensure we can build a vibrant and strong local SME community.”