I’m aware that many businesses in Rushcliffe and across the country are deeply concerned about what Coronavirus will mean for their ability to operate.
On 20/03/2020, the Government announced that all restaurants, bars and pubs, cafes, clubs, leisure centres and gyms will close. The Chancellor pledged a support grant available for affected businesses of 80% of affected employee wages, up to £2,500 a month, and backdated from 01/03/2020.
As of 03/04/2020, the Chancellor has strengthened support for businesses by bolstering business interruption loans:
- The current loan scheme will be extended so more small businesses can benefit
- Lenders will be banned from requesting personal guarantees on loans under £250,000
- A new scheme is announced to bolster support for larger firms not currently eligible for loans
Please be assured that the Government is doing all it can to support business and minimise the economic disruption caused by Coronavirus. The Chancellor and Bank of England will continue to make announcements to support businesses of all sizes through these difficult times.
In addition to these support measures the government has also announced the introduction of Bounce Back Loans to support businesses through this difficult time:
- The government's new Bounce Back Loan Scheme enables small businesses to borrow up to £50,000 and access the cash within days. They are easy to apply for and the Government provides a 100 per cent guarantee for the loan to lenders.
- This will offer additional protection to small firms, helping them get the finance they need so they can keep operating, protect jobs and incomes, and get through this crisis.
Measures from the Government's Package Include:
- 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 and £25 million for large businesses 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
A full list of measures can be found here.
Support for the self-employed:
- The government has announced a Self-Employed Income Support Scheme - a taxable grant worth 80% of the average monthly profits over the last 3 years, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
- The scheme will be accessible for at least 3 months (April 2020). It is open to anyone in the UK with trading profits of up to £50,000, who make the majority of their income from self-employment and who have submitted a tax return for 2019.
- The grants can still be claimed whilst you still operate your business.
- HMRC will contact those who are eligible for the grant and ask you to fill in a simple online form and pay the grant straight into your bank account. This should take place no later than June 2020.
- Anyone who missed the filing deadline for January 2020 will have a 4 week extension from 26th March 2020 to submit their return.
- Self-employed people can also access the Business Interruption Loans
- Self-assessment Income Tax Payments due in July 2020 will be deferred until end of January 2021
- VAT payments due before June 30th 2020 deferred until 31 March 2021
- Anyone who is self-employed can get access to full Universal Credit at a rate that is equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees.
If your employees need to self-isolate, information on how they can get an isolation note to give to you is available here.
Employers can apply for Government assistance to cover up to 80% of wages (up to £2,500 a month) for employees kept on the books but unable to work (furloughed workers). Full information on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is available here.
For detailed information about the support your business can access if it is facing financial difficulty, please see The Chancellor’s up-to-date fact sheet attached below.
As ever, you can contact me on ruth.edwards.mp@parliament.uk
