Weekly Digest – 15 April 2020

Whatever your political views, seeing the Prime Minister in intensive care for three days showed how serious COVID-19 can be. I hope you and your family are safe and well.

In terms of government news and updates for business:

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online portal from the UK government is expected to be up and running by 20 April, with the first payments in place by 30 April.

You’ll find further support information, such as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the deferral of VAT payments, on the government’s Business Support website.

If you’re self-employed, you can now claim a grant worth 80% of your average monthly profits, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month, for the next three months. Here’s the relevant article on the government’s website.

Other Government Help

The above are part of a range of measures to counter the disruption you’re facing due to COVID-19. Others include

  • a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
  • a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England
  • small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief

There’s an FAQs section on the government’s business support website but please contact us if you’d like help with any of the above.

Helpful resources

LinkedIn has made a number of courses aimed at small businesses free til June. These courses cover topics including marketing, managing remote teams, self-care, and financial planning.

This pandemic won’t last forever, but it’s likely that business will be different afterwards. This article in Harvard Business Review has ideas for preparing your business for the post-pandemic world. 

Futurist and founder of XPRIZE Peter Diamandis discusses three things he’s hopeful about and three things that small businesses should do to prepare for what comes next.

Time for some good news

Every week, we like to bring you a good news story. The response of some people to the pandemic has been amazing and none more so than Army veteran Tom Moore, 99, who has raised £4m for NHS by doing laps of his garden. His original target was £1000!

Here to help

It’s certainly been a tough few weeks but we’re here to help. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are all in this together!

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