Northallerton High Street businesses offered grants to improve shop fronts

Business owners along Northallerton’s historic high street are being encouraged to improve their shop fronts with the help of a Hambleton District Council grant.

Northallerton is one of 69 towns across the UK to be selected as a High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) by Historic England. 

The shop front improvement scheme is one of the key initiatives of this work offering grants of up to £25,000 for eligible businesses.

The £80,000 HSHAZ grant has been topped up to £120,000 by the district council and Northallerton BID to try to bring as many schemes forward as possible.

Businesses can get up to 75% of the project cost to repair the fabric of the front of buildings – which must be informed by the historical landscape and the architectural period of the building.

“This scheme provides business owners occupying historical buildings with the opportunity to improve their shop fronts in line with their historic context,” said council leader, Councillor Mark Robson.

“It aims to foster a sense of pride in the high street and encourage landlords to ensure that their properties continue to be maintained to a high standard.

“It is one of many schemes underway in Northallerton to improve the town centre offer – with the new Treadmills development opening up for business and a new town square being created, it’s an exciting time for businesses in the town.”

To apply log on to: www.hambleton.gov.uk/shopfrontgrant

When applying the following should be considered:

• you must own or lease the property – if you lease the property, it must have at least three years still to run.
• if you don’t own or lease the property, the application must be made jointly with the owner or leaseholder, and a lease with a break clause in it will not be acceptable.
• you must not have previously received a grant or loan from the High Street Heritage Action Zone or Historic England.
• your company must not have had £315k or more of public subsidy assistance in the last three financial years.
• the property must be in the designated HSHAZ project area