‘Micro grant gave me hope I could continue’

Stairwell Books is one of 1,114 small and micro businesses to benefit from the micro grant scheme established by City of York Council during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The scheme enabled hundreds of enterprises across the city to continue trading, diversify their services and, in many cases, digitally transform their businesses.

York has a diverse economy with 7,045 micro and small businesses making up 98 per cent of all businesses. When lockdown hit, many were unable to continue trading because their services were reliant on face-to-face contact with customers.

With many of these businesses falling through the net of Government support, the council made £1.14m of its own funds available to support small, micro and one-person businesses who were ineligible for help by providing a £1,000 grant.

Of the 1,114 businesses to receive funding, 294 businesses said the micro grant helped them to avoid the risk of having to permanently cease trading over the last year as a result of the pandemic.

Stairwell Books used its grant to digitise its services and reach a new worldwide audience.

The independent book publisher which mainly supports new writers from York and Yorkshire developed the popular ‘look inside’ feature for its books, something which they had previously been unable to afford.

Prior to the pandemic, the business had been reliant on meeting customers at literary festivals.

Stairwell Books’ owners Rose Drew and Alan Gillott digitised their services to reach a new worldwide audience.  

With this new feature installed, potential customers can now read the first 10 pages of the books online before purchasing and the business has now increased its customer base to an average of 30,000 per month.

Rose Drew, owner, said: “The micro grant has been a real lifeline and has made a huge difference to our business over the past year. The development of the ‘look inside’ feature is something we have wanted to do for such a long time and just haven’t been able to justify previously. Once we had that up and running, it gave us the confidence to push forwards and keep going.”

York-based writer and composer, Gus Gowland, said his grant had helped him to purchase quality recording equipment which enabled him to take his work online. It also gave him a morale boost when he, and the music and theatre industry, was facing so much uncertainty.

Gus Gowland  

He said: “The micro grant was a lifesaver for me. Not only did it enable to purchase professional standard equipment which meant I could deliver an online teaching course throughout the summer when all other work had stopped, it also gave me the hope and promise that I could continue and that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.”

Liz Clark, owner of the Wedding Guide UK, said: “The Wedding Guide UK is a printed book usually distributed at wedding fairs. When Covid struck the wedding industry completely stopped - not only had I no way of distributing my guide, but none of my customers could afford the advertising.

“With no money coming in, the micro grant was a complete lifeline as I wasn’t eligible for any of the government support. Knowing that I would have the money to pay my graphic designer, I was able to create a digital version of the book and continue to support my loyal customers.

“I know from speaking to other businesses across the country who were in a similar position to me that other councils did not offer anywhere near the level of support I received, so I can’t thank York council enough for creating the scheme.”

Cllr Andrew Waller, executive member for economy and strategic planning, said: “In the early stages of the pandemic it soon became clear to us that there were many small businesses and self-employed people in York who were falling though the net of central government support.

“We very quickly launched our Micro Grant Fund to help the small and micro businesses within our community which are so important for the unique diversity of our city and vital to our economy.

"It’s heartening to hear from businesses like Stairwell Books who have been able to invest throughout this challenging period to build better, more resilient businesses for the future.”