Sheffield City Council has secured £28m of funding to support local businesses to upgrade to CAZ-compliant vehicles.

Support is available for light goods vehicles (LGV), heavy goods vehicles (HGV), coaches, hackney carriages, private hire vehicles (PHV) and minibuses.

The Clean Air Zone (CAZ) will go-live on February 27, 2023. It will be a Class C zone that applies to the inner ring road and city centre.

Sheffield City Council has appointed Shire Leasing to deliver the financial support scheme, which will help businesses reduce the cost of replacing non-compliant vehicles.

Support can be accessed in the form of a grant, interest-subsidised finance or a combination of the two.

Shire Leasing has already delivered more than £2m of financial support to SMEs through other similar government-funded CAZ schemes in the UK.

Julie Henehan, corporate development director at Shire Leasing, said: "The Sheffield City Council financial assistance scheme is the fifth addition to our Driving Clean Air programme. We’re delighted to be working with the Sheffield team to support the city in improving air quality, making it an even better place to live, work and visit. Over the past three years our team have developed expertise in delivering Clean Air Zone financial assistance and we look forward to bringing our knowledge and hassle-free processes to help eligible SME’s to upgrade their vehicles swiftly and more affordably.”

Businesses interested in accessing the scheme must first pass an initial eligibility assessment with Sheffield City Council. Once a Basic Eligibility Letter is issued, businesses can use this to apply for financial support directly with Shire Leasing via their dedicated webpage.