Monthly Archives: October 2020

Large firms should each have one person to deal with late payments – FSB

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on the government to introduce fundamental changes to tackle late payments.
Alok Sharma, secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Martin McTague, policy and advocacy chairman at the Federation of Small Business, spoke at the Conservative’s virtual party conference yesterday (October 5th).
The late payment issue has worsened since the pandemic. In its report Late Again: how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting payment terms for small firms, 62 per cent of small businesses have experienced an increase an increase and/or had payments frozen completely as a result of COVID-19. McTague said that we need a complete change in attitudes.
“It’s a culture in the UK. There should be one person responsible for supply chain behaviour in a big business. There’s no place to hide, they know the data. They would be responsible for false information.”
He adds that the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) is doing a good job, but he’s got ‘one arm tied behind his back’. The Commissioner is relying on a whistleblower which damages the whistleblower’s relationship with the business and the SBC should have the power to hurt them financially.
“A lot of

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Rishi Sunak plans grants for small businesses hit by hard lockdown

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans for new Treasury support for small businesses who find themselves closed because of hard lockdown.
Pubs and restaurants would be forced to close, as well as possibly non-essential retailers, at the top level of a “three-tier” lockdown strategy, which could be announced as soon as tomorrow.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a simplified three-tier system of local, regional and even a national lockdown. The system has yet to be finalised, with sources telling the Times that it was “stuck in No 10”, despite hurdling coronavirus infection cases in the North and scientists urging a national “circuit-breaker”.
>See also: HSBC will not accept any more Bounce Back Loan applications
According to the draft traffic-light-style plan, obtained by the Guardian, the top-tier lockdown would include closure of hospitality and leisure businesses.
Mr Sunak has already provided grants of £1,500 to businesses forced to close under local lockdowns and said this week the government was prepared to move with “pace and scale” to deal with new problems as they arose during the crisis.
Lockdown grants
In September, the government announced that small businesses affected by a local lockdown could claim for a £1,000

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