Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government is listening to retailers about being allowed to bring back furloughed staff on a part-time basis, according to one senior source.
Although independent retailers are being asked to reopen from June, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will only allow part-time furlough from August.
Given a cratered economy and uncertain demand, retailers are asking why the government insists on this all-or-nothing approach.
Some shops are gingerly reopening towards the end of the working week but would have to pay staff taken off furlough fully time.
“Part-time furlough has been raised by retailers and a number of MPs. It’s something that we’re looking at and try to respond to,” said the source.
“By extending the furlough scheme in the first place, and then extending it a second time, it shows that we’re listening. We do listen and hope we’re being seen to be flexible and responsive.
“Businesses are burning though cash with no changed in fixed costs. We are never going to have had perfection implementing schemes at such speed and scale.”
Self-employed owner-directors
Meanwhile, the government is still thinking about how to open up the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) to self-employed owner directors.
The problem, said the source, is that
Tag Archive for Rishi Sunak
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Rishi Sunak extends job retention furlough scheme to October
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confounded expectations by extending the furlough job retention scheme to October at the same 80 per cent support level.
Rishi Sunak said there will be no changes to the furlough job retention scheme until the end of July.
From August part-time working from furloughed employees will be allowed, with employers picking up a greater percentage of the tab. Mr Sunak said that further details will be announced later his month. The chancellor left the door open for part-time furloughed workers to be allowed back before August, providing there was sign-up from unions and business associations.
Mr Sunak said that he expects the scheme to end by November. “Eight months of support is a considerable amount of time,” he said.
>See also: Government launches business Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
The chancellor said that the furlough scheme has helped 7.5m workers protect their jobs, with over 1m businesses being supported.
Mr Sunak said: “I’m extending this scheme because I want to help the people who need it.”
Shadow chancellor Annelise Dodds said that she’d been taken aback by press reports quoting officials saying that workers needed to be “weaned” off the job retention scheme.
Ms Dodds said: “We will
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Government eyes extending 60% furlough scheme until September
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is eyeing extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme furlough until September with Treasury covering 60 per cent of staff wages.
The Treasury is also considering topping up wages of part-time staff taken off furlough as they drift back in to work.
Previously, the chancellor has said there will be no “cliff edge” of businesses having furlough support suddenly switched off as they reopen. Originally, the furlough scheme was set to expire at the end of May, then July, and now, apparently, September.
Prime minister Boris Johnson announced a very limited opening up of the economy last night, with only those who cannot work from home being encouraged to return to work.
Shops could reopen by the start of June, while some outdoor hospitality venues and cinemas may reopen in July – providing the government sees evidence of the coronavirus dying out.
Garden centres and golf courses are other businesses reportedly being allowed to reopen this week.
Ongoing headache
How to wean businesses off the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which currently costs the Treasury £6bn a month, is an ongoing headache for the Treasury. The scheme could end up costing as much over a year as the NHS.
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Ceiling for self-employed coronavirus support may be dropped to £30,000
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is thinking about cutting its ceiling for self-employed coronavirus support to £30,000 before its scheme has even launched yet.
HMRC has begun writing to the self-employed, telling them if they are eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and encouraging them to apply.
The self-employed coronavirus support scheme is set to open on May 13, having been brought forward from the June start previously talked about.
Under the current scheme, freelancers and the self-employed can apply for a one-off payment of up to £7,500 covering three months. This is based at looking at your tax returns for the past three years and then averaging your monthly income. Only freelancers and the self-employed who have been earning up to £50,000 a year can apply for the self-employed coronavirus income support scheme.
>See also: Self-employed Income Support Scheme what it means for you
However, according to the Times, the Treasury is already thinking about slashing that £50,000 ceiling to £30,000 going forward.
The Treasury has already said the SEISS will be extended.
Plummeting unemployment
However, HMRC officials are trying to figure out ways to wean workers off government support packages such as the SEISS and its furlough scheme without creating plummeting unemployment.
Chancellor
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Rishi Sunak rejects 100 per cent guarantee for business interruption loans
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has poured cold water on calls for the Treasury to provide a 100 per cent guarantee for coronavirus business interruption loans.
The government is currently underwriting 80 per cent of loans to small businesses that are struggling for survival.
However, there have been a chorus of voices – including three former Conservative chancellors – calling for that guarantee to be lifted to 100 per cent, as is the case in Switzerland.
>See also: How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference, Mr Sunak said he was “not persuaded” that a total state guarantee was the right thing to do, despite pleas from small businesses being rejected through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Mr Sunak argued that when the plethora of government coronavirus emergency business funding was looked at in total, with grants for small businesses, as well has the furlough scheme which launched yesterday, the British help package was generous.
More significant
Speaking at yesterday’s Downing Street press conference, Mr Sunak said: “Some people have made comparison with what’s going on in other countries. When you look at the totality, what we’re doing is more significant
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Future Fund – government tech start-up bailout scheme how it works
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: The government has announced its £250m Future Fund tech start-up bailout scheme to help innovative companies get through the coronavirus pandemic.
The widely anticipated Future Fund will issue convertible loans between £125,000 to £5m to innovative companies that are facing financing difficulties due to the Covid-19 outbreak. These loans will have to be matched by private investors.
>See also: Government eyes taking equity stakes in tech start-ups
These loans will be for three years and will be charged at an interest rate of 8 per cent.
Crucially, the government could end up owning half of some of Britain’s fastest-growing tech businesses. Future Fund loans may convert to equity at a discount of at least 20 per cent when companies undergo their next funding round.
This scheme will launch in May 2020, which may be too late for some start-ups reliant on investors to survive. Investment through government tax schemes such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme has dropped by 70 per cent this year.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has charged British Business Bank with delivering the Future Fund.
See also: How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
The news will go some way to allaying tech start-up fears that
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Coronavirus emergency business loans may be changed yet again
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: Chancellor Rishi Sunak may change coronavirus emergency business loans yet again in the face of mounting evidence they aren’t working.
Yesterday, SmallBusiness.co.uk revealed that the majority of small businesses are having their loan applications turned down, even since the chancellor loosened the scheme on April 3.
Today, the British Chambers of Commerce announced that only 2 per cent of businesses surveyed had had their loan applications approved.
>See also: Fewer than 10% of businesses can access government coronavirus funding
On Tuesday evening, Rishi Sunak told the Financial Times that he would look at other countries to see if the government “could learn and improve” on the small business bailout scheme, which provides interest-free loans of up to £5m for up to one year before bank interest rate kicks in.
Switzerland, on the other hand, offers up to £400,000 as an interest-free loan repayable over five years. The Swiss government covers the entire amount. And cash can be accessed within 24 hours, not weeks, as in the case in Britain.
100-per-cent guarantees
George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor and editor of the Evening Standard in London, told the BBC on Tuesday that the government should follow suit for the smallest
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Sunak overhauls coronavirus small business loans
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Rishi Sunak will announce an overhaul of the government’s coronavirus small business loans scheme on Friday (April 3) in response to mounting anger.
The government will remove the requirement for small businesses to show that they have no other means of funding before accessing the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Firms trying to use the coronavirus small business loans scheme say banks have been demanding personal guarantees and quoting double-digit interest rates, driving applicants towards standard business loans.
Small business owners told MailOnline that they are being offered interest rates for between seven and 30 per cent on CBILS emergency loans – despite current UK base rate being 0.1 per cent.
Higher interest rate
Denice Purdie of Kinross-based Kapital Residential told Small Business that Bank of Scotland was advising her to apply for a conventional bank loan at a much higher interest rate. “This is not guaranteed and will take too long,” she said.
Sky News reports that Mr Sunak and his Treasury officials have been in talks with participating lenders, which include the high-street banks.
Although all the big banks have stated that they will not force small business borrowers using the CBILS to put up personal guarantees
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Self-employed Income Support Scheme what it means for you
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a Self-Employed Income Support Scheme to help Britain’s 5m self-employed get through the coronavirus pandemic.
The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will offer a taxable grant of up to 80 per cent of a self-employed person’s income based on their taxable profits over the past three years, capped at £2,500 per month.
The scheme will only become available at the beginning of June and will have an initial three-month lifespan, to be reviewed.
And the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will only cover those who paid tax on trading profits of up to £50,000 of income in 2018-19.
HMRC will pay the single lump sum direct into people’s bank accounts.
Individuals should not contact HMRC now. HMRC will use existing information to check potential eligibility and invite applications once the scheme is operational.
Sunak claimed the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which will cover up to 95 per cent of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment, was unparalleled in almost any other country.
Sunak said: “We know that people are worried about their jobs and income … many self-employed people are worried about the lack of support for them.
“This last 100 days have
Hot Business News Today
Government launches business Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to protect small business jobs.
Any PAYE-qualifying small business employee will qualify for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which will cover 80 per cent of a regular salary up to £2,500 a month, just above the median income.
>See also: How to get the government’s £10,000 cash grant for small businesses
Small business owners must apply to HMRC and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be backdated to March 1 to cover a three-month period.
Sunak said there was no limit on how much this job-retention scheme might cost, which will be financed through the national debt.
The government expects the first job-retention grants to be payed before the end of April.
Sunak also announced that small businesses would be able to defer next quarter’s VAT, a direct injection of £30bn of cash-flow support for SMEs.
>See also: How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
Sunak called his latest package “unprecedented in the history of the British state … you will not face this alone”.
This package of measures “will protect jobs and strengthens the safety net”, the chancellor reiterated.
Sunak said: “The government is doing its best to stand