Chancellor unveils coronavirus business support package
Business Support announced by the Chancellor
On 17 March, the Chancellor announced unprecedented support for business and workers – to support the economy and businesses large and small. You can find his full speech here.
The package of government-backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses, making available an initial £330bn of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of GDP. That support will be delivered through two main schemes:
- To support liquidity amongst larger firms, a new lending facility with the Governor of the Bank of England to provide low cost, commercial paper.
- To support lending to small and medium sized businesses, extending the new Business Interruption Loan Scheme announced at the Budget.
The Chancellor also announced tax cuts of nearly £20bn for British businesses.
The measures provide a comprehensive, coordinated and coherent response to what is a serious and evolving economic situation.
Business Support Measures in Detail
Business Rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure
- All businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will pay no business rates in England for 12 months from 1 April 2020.
- There will be no rateable value threshold on this relief – businesses large and small will benefit.
- Guidance for local authorities on the application of the holiday has been published. Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs should be directed to the relevant local authority.
Small Business Grant Scheme
- The government will provide additional funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates.
- This funding will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to businesses currently eligible for small business rate relief (SBBR) or rural rate relief.
- A £25,000 grant will be provided to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.
- If your business is eligible for SBRR or rural rate relief, you will be contacted by your Local Authority – you do not need to apply.
- The Business Secretary will write to all Local Authorities by the end of the week with information on this scheme, and to encourage them to prepare to deliver this quickly.
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
- A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, will launch next week to support businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts.
- This will help ensure that eligible businesses facing short-term cash flow difficulties can continue to access finance as they respond to the temporary impact of the coronavirus outbreak on cash flow.
- By providing an 80% government guarantee on eligible lending, this scheme will give lenders the confidence to keep lending to businesses. The government will provide as much capacity as required for this scheme. There will be no fee for lenders or borrowers to benefit from this guarantee.
- The Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments.
- The scheme is open to businesses with a turnover of less than £41m (as long as the business is long-term viable and is UK based) which meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria. Full details on the eligibility criteria will be announced shortly.
The first loans will be available next week and further details of the new scheme will be announced shortly. Businesses worried about accessing finance now should speak to their usual lender.
New Coronavirus Updates and Guidance
NEW - Temporary relaxation of the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours rules: drivers supplying supermarkets
NEW - Schools, colleges and early years settings to close
NEW - Complete ban on evictions and additional protection for renters
NEW – Coronavirus (COVID-19) – delivering our public services
ACAS Webinars for Employers
Employers can join a free ACAS webinar ‘Coronavirus – an advisory webinar for employers’. The webinar provides practical advice for employers to help manage the impact of coronavirus in the workplace. It includes:-
- steps that can help reduce the spread of the virus
- effective ways of communicating with employees
- self-isolating, time off, sickness certification and sick pay
- altering working hours, shift patterns and working arrangements
- remote working and the use of technology
Businesses can find out more and register here.