Rishi Sunak has announced £4bn of one-off grants for around retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England to help them to get through the latest coronavirus lockdown.

The chancellor’s announcement comes after Boris Johnson announced that these sectors would have to close until at least February half-term to bring surging Covid cases under control.

The cash is expected to support more than 600,000 business properties, with money distributed according to their rateable value.

It will be worth £9,000 for the biggest businesses worth more than £51,000, with £6,000 available for those in the middle with a value of between £15,000 and £51,000, and £4,000 for the smallest with a value of £15,000 and under.

Sunak also promised a £594m fund for councils and the devolved authorities to give to companies in other sectors, which are not eligible for the new support. 

The chancellor said: “The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.

“Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the spring.

“This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

The money comes on top of the furlough scheme, which has been extended to April, a business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, and previous grants made available by the chancellor, among other measures.

It also triggers extra UK government funding for Scotland (£375m), Wales (£227m) and Northern Ireland (£127m).