Glasgow City Council has announced grants of £2,000 to £25,000 for those businesses most directly impacted by the fire and subsequent public safety work, most of which are small, independent operators.

FSB Scotland welcomed the initial emergency funding package as a vital step to ensuring as many of the fire-hit businesses could get up and running again as quickly as possible.

Hisashi Kuboyama, FSB’s West Scotland development manager, said: “The devastating fire and the subsequent disruption have severely impacted hundreds of small businesses, including many who lost everything in the flames.

“What they needed was a quick response to help them get back on their feet, so the announcement of these grants is a welcome and important first step.

“Besides those who saw their livelihoods destroyed in the fire, many more small businesses are facing hardship due to the significant ongoing disruption to train services and access to some city centre streets.

“It’s important for the recovery of businesses in the wider area for the City Council to recognise the losses of those outside the safety cordon and to supports them with hardship business rates relief.”

Glasgow City Council is using the £10m fund provided by the Scottish Government to provide business support grants for businesses who lost their premises in Forsyth House and those forced to close temporarily due to being inside the safety cordon.

These businesses will also qualify for business rates relief while their premises are unusable, but any further relief will be offered at the discretion of the city council.

Mr Kuboyama added: “The disruption caused by the temporary closure and ongoing restrictions on services into Central Station, which normally sees 70,000 passengers a day, has had a huge impact on footfall across a large part of the city centre.

“We are calling for the City Council to offer three months of hardship rates relief to all the affected businesses.

“Many of the fire-hit businesses will need to find and open new premises, so it is important the city council ensures measures are in place to fast-track any associated planning or licensing applications.

“It is also vital that the small businesses who draw the visitors to many of these city centre streets are included in drawing up the plans for the regeneration of the area.

“The aim of any masterplan must be to ensure the area not only continues to support a thriving community of small businesses but bounces back even stronger than before.”