The Scottish Government originally announced that it would only award a £25,000 grant per business but made a U-turn following a considerable amount of pressure from businesses and the media, allowing multi-site businesses to claim per property but only to the value of 75%.

Furthermore, the smallest properties in Scotland with a rateable value below £18,000 are subject to an additional clause requiring them to qualify them for SBBS, meaning many get nothing compared to £10,000 or £25,000 for the same property in England.

Jon Sharp, owner of Kilimanjaro Coffee of one of the businesses bringing forward the court action, said: “We are taking legal action to consider the fairness of the Scottish government’s decision not only to curb the grants available to Scottish businesses who have been forced to close their doors due to the pandemic, but to widen the grants out to other sectors. The Scottish government originally announced to the Scottish Parliament that they would be ‘replicating in full’ the English grant scheme but quickly backtracked on this commitment.

“We are looking for the funding to be in line with the rest of the UK as without this it really could spell the end for many businesses across the country and lead to widespread unemployment.

“We also would like to see the Scottish Government take into account the way rateable value is measured in Scotland and increase the threshold quite considerably in order to aid the businesses that need it most and are amongst the country’s top employers.

“There are fundamental flaws in Scottish Government finance minister Kate Forbes’ plans and although devolved, we continue to be UK citizens and are appealing for parity with our English counterparts. If not, more businesses will go under in Scotland than in England as a result.”

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