COVID-19 Resource Hub

CBILS by British Business Bank is open for applications for smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow. Full details of the CBILS scheme are linked above, but the main criteria are:

• Loan facilities of up to £5m
• 80% of the lenders risk is covered
• Repayment terms up to 6 years for term loans and asset finance, but overdraft and invoice facilities will be up to 3 years.
• No upfront fees and interest is covered by Government for up to 12 months
• Companies remain 100% liable for the debt repayments. Total unsecured lending of up to £250,000.
• Application for loans from the scheme is administered by over 40 approved lenders including main banks, challenger banks and asset finance etc.

The Government has extended the CBILS so that all viable small businesses affected by COVID-19, not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing, will now be eligible should they need finance to keep operating during this difficult time.

The government is also stopping lenders from requesting personal guarantees for loans under £250,000, this is an issue those in our sector raised and one which techUK has been vocal with Government about.

Following the 2020 Budget announcement, small business grant funding of £10,000 is available for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief. Businesses eligible for this grant will be contacted by their local authorities.

Find out more here

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme allows all UK businesses to continue to pay employees that would have otherwise been laid off due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• To access this scheme employees will need to be designated as ‘furloughed workers’ and notified. The definition of ‘furlough’ is to allow or to force someone to be temporarily absent from their employment.
• The Portal provides clarification on:
  • What should form the basis for furlough pay for employees furloughed on return from leave.
  • The types of employees that can be furloughed and the position of IR35 contractors.
  • What information employers need to claim the grant.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will continue until end of October. The employer payments will substitute the contribution the Government is currently making, ensuring that staff continue to receive 80% of their salary, up to £2,500 a month..

• Furloughed workers across UK will continue to receive 80% of their current salary, up to £2,500
• New flexibility will be introduced from August to get employees back to work and boost economy

If you’re a UK VAT registered business and have a VAT payment due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, you have the option to:

• defer the payment until a later date
• pay the VAT due as normal

It does not cover VAT MOSS payments.

HMRC will not charge interest or penalties on any amount deferred as a result of the Chancellor’s announcement.

Find out more here

For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 may be deferred until 31 January 2021. Eligibility for deferral of income Tax payments:

• You are eligible if you are due to pay your second self-assessment payment on account on 31 July. You do not need to be self-employed to be eligible for the deferment.
• Income tax prepayments under the Self-Assessment scheme due in July 2020 can be deferred until January 2021 includes self-employed.

Find out more here

A rebate scheme has been developed, which will allow small-and medium-sized businesses and employers to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. Some of the key criteria include:

• This refund will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19
• Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible – the size of an employer will be determined by the number of people they employed as of 28 February 2020
• Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19

Find out more here

Proposals are invited for short term projects addressing mitigating health, social, economic and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Proposals that meet at least one of the following criteria will be supported:

• New research or innovation with a clear impact pathway that has the potential (within the period of the award) to deliver a significant contribution to the understanding of, and response to, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts.
• Supports the manufacture and/or wide scale adoption of an intervention with significant potential.
• Gathers critical data and resources quickly for future research use.

Find out more here

Government Future Fund to support Innovative UK companies announces eligibility criteria

• Open for applications from Wednesday 20th May 2020
• Scheme operates on a commercial basis to deliver an initial commitment of £250m of new government funding
• Financing will be unlocked by additional third-party investment on a match funded basis
• Applications submitted via an online platform based on a set of standard terms and eligibility criteria

Find out more

View our webinar The new Innovate UK support package under COVID-19 – What does it mean for our community? for more information.

Delivered by lenders accredited by the British Business Bank for this scheme, Bounce Back Loans offer small and micro businesses ( less than 10 employees) in all sectors, access to loans from £2k up to 25% of the business’ turnover with a maximum loan of £50k.. The scheme offers a 100% government-backed guarantee and standardising the application form is expected to lead to a faster process with many loans becoming available within days. Scheme Features:

• Up to £50,000 loan: Loans will be from £2,000 up to 25% of a business’ turnover or £50,000, whichever is lower.
• 100% guarantee: The scheme provides the lender with a government-backed, full guarantee (100%) against the outstanding facility balance, both capital and interest. The borrower always remains 100% liable for the debt.
• Interest rate: The government has set the interest rate for this facility at 2.5% per annum, meaning businesses will all benefit from the same, low rate of interest.
• Interest paid by government for 12 months: The government will make a Business Interruption Payment to the lenders to cover the first 12 months of interest payable, so businesses will benefit from no upfront costs.
• No principal repayments for first 12 months: Borrowers will not have to begin principal repayments for the first 12 months, thereafter capital will be repaid on a straight line basis.
• No guarantee fee for businesses or lenders to access the scheme.
• Finance terms: The length of the loan is for six years but early repayment is allowed, without early repayment fees.
• No personal guarantees: No personal guarantees are allowed, and no recovery action can be taken over a principal private residence or principal private vehicle.

You can find an FAQ for SMEs on the Bounce Back Loan Scheme here

You can find a list of Bounce Bank Loan accredited lenders here

The Festival of Enterprise are hosting a series of post lockdown webinars for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.

Take part daily at 10am and 12pm.

Find out more

The Government has published new guidance to help employers prepare their businesses and employees for a safe return to work. The Government, however, is very clear that “all reasonable steps should be taken by employers to work from home”.

Remote working is encouraged as far as possible, given public transport networks operating social distancing measures meaning far less capacity and schools remaining closed to the majority of students (with exemptions made for children of key workers and specific vulnerable groups).

However, for those who cannot work from home and whose workplace has not been told to close, the Government is now pro-actively encouraging a return to work.

Guidance has been developed for 8 different workplace settings from offices to outdoor environments, laboratories to factories.

Find out more here

The Government has launched a  50 page document setting out a plan to rebuild the UK for a world with COVID-19. “It is not a quick return to ‘normality.’ Nor does it lay out an easy answer. And, inevitably, parts of this plan will adapt as we learn more about the virus. But it is a plan that should give the people of the United Kingdom hope. Hope that we can rebuild; hope that we can save lives; hope that we can safeguard livelihoods” says Boris Johnson.

Find out more here