Government Finance and Support:
Read this page, but note it was last updated 22nd March 2020. There have been new Government support announcements since this date, so please see our FAQ pages for the more detail.
The Government’s official page has been updated with new information on who is eligible and when/how to apply – it’s still a bit of a waiting game, but we can still be taking action. The best advice for now is speak to your bank (find out what information they’ll need from you as we can help prepare this). See the “what can I do now” page. Or give us a call.
All the latest information on the Governments support packages can be found on the link below (it should be updated as new support or developments are made) – the advice (for business premises grants) at present is to wait for your local authority to contact you, but if you need to you can get their contact details here: find my local authority/council
In summary they are offering the following:
- a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for SMEs
- a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England
- small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
- grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank
- a new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans
- the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme
Following Friday’s announcement (20th March 2020):
- Loans will have no interest for 12 months (rather than 6)
- 80% of salaries will be backed for employees who can’t work (backdated to beginning of March – available end of April) – up to £2,500 a month
- Delayed VAT payments to end of year for quarter ends between now and end June – although VAT bills likely to be low over the coming months (maybe even refunds), so not a great impact for small businesses where sales have stopped instantly
- Income tax (so July payments on account) deferred until January 2021
- Universal credits for the self employed (and anyone else eligible). See FAQs and link below to start a claim or check eligibility. How to apply for universal credit : Universal Credit