Coronavirus Measures > Support Measures For Businesses Affected By COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an extremely challenging time for everyone, in particular business owners. There have been lots of different support handed out by the Government in order to help keep businesses running throughout the pandemic. We saw the introduction of the Furlough Scheme in order to try and keep employees in jobs, to ‘Bounce Back Loans’ and more. The hospitality industry in particular was hit hard and given the most support as they had to close their doors almost immediately.
Hospitality, Retail & Leisure
On the 5th January, the latest announcement was that £4.6 billion would be provided to businesses during Lockdown 3.0 - both protecting jobs, and supporting businesses. News of this extended lockdown means that businesses are set to be closed for even longer, until at least Easter time.
For those businesses in hospitality, retail or leisure, who have been forced to close for the duration of this pandemic may be entitled to a one-off grant of up to £9,000. This is designed to help these hard-struck businesses when they can finally open their doors again in Spring.
There are lots of other grants available for other businesses, and we wanted to explain each option clearly so you can easily identify which (if any) you are applicable for.
Businesses Forced To Close
As well as the one-off grants, there is an additional £3,000 available for businesses who have had to close their doors. The money doesn’t stop once they re-open either, these businesses will be eligible for up to £2,100 per month for those that were impacted.
One-off ‘top-up’ grants will be allocated to closed businesses as follows:
There are of course some requirements for these one-off ‘top-up’ grants, which are:
Business Rates & Discretionary
As well as the grant funding, the Government have also stated that they will continue to provide 100% business rates relief for those businesses within the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
The current discretionary fund for Local Authorities is £1.1 billion, and an additional £594 million will be allocated to support other businesses which are not eligible for the grants above. Local businesses will have to apply for this funding through their Local Authority.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
This is more commonly referred to as the Furlough Scheme. It was launched at the start of the pandemic to help employers continue to pay the salaries of their employees. Initially, this was due to end on the 31st October 2020, but just before we went into Lockdown 2.0, this deadline was moved to the 31st March 2021. This has once again been extended until the end of April 2021.
Here are some of the main details you need to be aware of regarding the CJRS extension:
The first claims under this new extended CJRS can be made from Wednesday 11th November. As the CJRS has been extended, it is worth noting that the Job Support Scheme and the Job Retention Bonus have been paused for the time being.
Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
The self-employed are also set to continue receiving Government support during Lockdown 3.0, and the SEISS extension will apply for 6 months starting 1st November 2020.
The level of support offered will be 80% of average trading profits calculated for November, December and January. A maximum grant for the three month period will be £7,500 and the claim window will be open as of the 30th November 2020.
There has been an indication that an additional second grant will be available for the self-employed from the period 1st February 2021 - 30th April 2021, but the details for this have yet to be announced.
In order to be eligible for this scheme, the following criteria apply:
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
The CBILS is a way to provide financial support to SMEs in particular, who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. The rules surrounding eligibility for these loans have changed significantly, opening up the loans to even more smaller businesses.
The main change is that insufficient security is no longer a condition needed in order to access the scheme. So if you weren’t eligible for CBILS initially, it may be worth applying again as this rule change has increased the number of businesses which are eligible for the scheme. The Government have also announced that the CBILS is being extended until 31st March 2021, so there is plenty of time left to still apply.
There hasn’t been much clarity regarding how CBILS work, so if you are considering applying here are some things you need to know:
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If you need help to write a business plan and apply for the recovery loan scheme please contact us, we would be happy to help support you with your application.
Use our digital systems to keep track of your receipts. This article is to help new business owners to understand the types of expenditure they can recover through their limited company. Please consider that where we refer to legislation this is subject to change.
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