Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond intervenes to save equestrian business suffering during lockdown

Wayne and Joanne Denman, the owners of Denners, an equestrian shop in Cowplain, had grown increasingly concerned for their business after delays to receiving the government’s £10,000 support grant.

The couple had applied for the grant in April but ,despite Havant Borough Council confirming receipt, they were still awaiting payment.

Joanne said: ‘By the end of April, things were getting desperate and we needed to pay our suppliers. We called Flick’s office on April 30 and she wrote to Havant on our behalf the next day.

‘On the following Monday we were relieved to hear from the council that our grant had been accepted and processed.’

Like many small businesses, the horse tack shop was struggling to make ends meet after having to close as the country went into lockdown on March 23.

After hearing the couple had now been paid, Mrs Drummond said: ‘I’m delighted I could help Denners ensure it received the grant and it can now look forward to eventually reopening when the restrictions are lifted.

‘This is exactly what these grants are designed to do and I thank Havant Brough Council for working so hard, while processing so many grants applications, to ensure this application made it through the system and the money got to the right place in time.’

Joanne added: ‘This has been absolutely life-saving for our shop. We are really grateful to Flick and her staff who sped things up and helped at every stage.’

The News reported last month about the ongoing issue of delayed payments of the grants from Havant Borough Council to businesses entitled to the funding.

Speaking at the time, deputy leader of the council, Cllr Tim Pike, said: ‘We are doing everything we can to get the rest of the funds out as quickly as possible as we know this is a lifeline for our businesses.

‘We are confident that all eligible businesses who have submitted their details will have received the money by the end of April.’

‘In a minority of cases there will be queries and these will take longer to resolve - but we are working extremely hard to get all of these sorted as quickly as possible.’

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