Tag Archive for Small Business

Hot Business News Today

How to reopen your small business post lockdown – what we know so far

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: Boris Johnson has outlined the first tentative steps to reopen small business, including the phased reopening of shops and hospitality.

Shops will be able to reopen on June 1
Some hospitality services will be allowed to re-open from July 4

The government has published its document fleshing out prime minister Johnson’s nationwide address, which goes deeper into its strategy to help reopen small business.
Shops planning to reopen post June 1 could badge themselves “COVID-19 Secure” by following guidelines shortly to be published by government after consultation with business groups and others.
By July, the government would like to see remaining small businesses that have been forced to close, including hairdressers and beauty salons, pubs and hotels and cinemas also reopen.
But any phased re-opening of small businesses will be reversed if the rate of coronavirus infection creeps back upwards – as is already being seen in Germany and South Korea, which have loosened up their own lockdowns.
Reopen small business
Mr Johnson said: “We must also recognise that this campaign against the virus has come at colossal cost to our way of life. We can see it all around us in the shuttered shops and abandoned businesses and darkened

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Small Business named as a top blog in coronavirus journalism awards

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Small Business Team on Small Business
Small Business has been named as a top live blog covering the coronavirus pandemic by journalist trade magazine Press Gazette.
The website aimed at owner-directors and microbusinesses was named alongside the BBC, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Independent as an exemplar.
Press Gazette singled out the Small Business live blog Budget coverage and what the chancellor’s announcements meant for small businesses for praise in its coronavirus coverage awards.
The piece ranked top of Google in searches for “small business Budget” worldwide and to date has had 58,234 page views and been linked to by 30 external websites, underlining its credibility.
The gallery of the best of British coronavirus coverage had over 600 entries.
The expert panel judging entries included Michael Crozier, former associate editor of The Independent; Liz Gerard, former night editor of The Times; and Eleanor Mills, former editorial director of The Sunday Times.
The recognition comes at a time when SmallBusiness.co.uk is achieving record numbers of readers. In March, the site recorded 1.3m page views.
Tim Adler, editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk, said: “The editorial team is thrilled to be recognised by Press Gazette for its breaking news coverage. We’d never attempted a live blog before, and the

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Coronavirus small business diary – Stitch & Story CEO Jennifer Lam

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Jennifer Lam on Small Business
Jennifer Lam is co-founder (alongside Jen Hoang) and CEO of digital crafts brand Stitch & Story, which sells a range of knitting kits, equipment and yarns, accompanied by a range of online tutorial videos to teach viewers knitting techniques.
Its products are aimed at people of all ages and abilities, with a range of products aimed at anyone from beginner to expert.
Here is her coronavirus small business diary:
9th March
Canary Wharf announces they’ve evacuated several office buildings because someone tested positive for Covid-19. In the Stitch & Story shared office, we see people putting up government health advice posters on all the walls and toilet cubicles. Our office is only one stop away from Canary Wharf and there’s some nervousness among our team. No one is admitting to it, but we can tell on our faces that something strange is happening.
The site manager called us for an emergency meeting to reassure us there are no plans for the building to shut but that we should prepare for the scenario. We’ve advised our Stitch & Story team to take their laptops home every night. There’s also a new rule – no personal belongings on our desks

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How your IT team can support small business during coronavirus lockdown

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Nick Ismail on Small Business
During this transition from an office to a remote working environment, how can an in-house or outsourced IT team support a small business in a coronavirus-triggered lockdown?
ContactEngine‘s founder and CEO, professor Mark K. Smith, says there are five common areas where an IT team could support a small business, based on requests from his clients.
>See also: What is the best cloud storage for UK small business?
#1 – Enabling call centre colleagues to work from home
Automatically re-route customer enquiries to an agent’s mobile.
#2 – In-home appointments
When employees are making home visits for installs, deliveries or repairs, make automatic Covid-19 pre-checks with the customer to make sure it is safe for employees to visit.
#3 – Emergency communications
Escalation comms for a situation when a workforce is suddenly dispersed during an emergency.
“Here a colleague calls into an emergency number and says what the issue is … the recording is sent to various colleagues who decide to escalate and schedule a conference call to decide the next action. It feels niche but it’s been used very extensively in the last few days for Covid-19 comms,” said Smith.
>See also: 5 Google tools to help you grow your small business
#4 –

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Scottish government launches small business coronavirus helpline

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Scottish government has launched a helpline for small businesses coping with the unfolding coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 helpline is open Monday to Friday, between 8:30am and 5:30pm.
Based at the existing Scottish Enterprise call centre in Clydebank, advisers across Scotland will answer questions from small businesses related to COVID-19. The helpline will also help the Scottish government identify the current challenges facing business over coronavirus.
>See also: Coronavirus government statutory sick pay – how to apply for it
The business helpline number is 0300 303 0660. The helpline will be open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm.
Callers should select option one to speak to the COVID-19 team.
However, the Scottish government has yet to respond to chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement in the Budget that nearly half of all small businesses in England will be exempted from business rates in 2020-21. This is because business rates have been devolved to governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Scottish economy secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “We continue to work closely with our partners to identify what further support businesses need … I also chaired a meeting with representatives from Scotland’s business support organisations including the STUC to hear their concerns and

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Coronavirus government statutory sick pay – how to apply for it

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Coronavirus government statutory sick pay – and how to apply for it
The government will meet the cost of coronavirus statutory sick pay (SSP) for small businesses with up to 250 employees for 14 days, providing over £2 billion for up to two million businesses.
SSP will now be available for eligible individuals diagnosed with coronavirus or those who are unable to work because they are self-isolating in line with government advice.
The weekly allowance for SSP will increase from £94.25 to £95.85 on 6 April.
>See also: Budget 2020 what it means for small business – analysis and live blog
This is in addition to the change announced by prime minister Boris Johnson that SSP will be payable from day one instead of day four for affected individuals.

People who are advised to self-isolate for coronavirus will soon be able to obtain an alternative to the fit note to cover this by contacting NHS 111, rather than visiting a doctor. This can be used by employees where their employers require evidence.

Coronavirus help for self-employed

For the self-employed not eligible for SSP, contributory Employment and Support Allowance will be payable, at a rate of £73.10 a week if you are

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
The government has announced a new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme, as part of a package of measures to help small business.
British Business Bank will deliver the loan scheme, which will launch within the next few weeks to support SMEs to access bank lending and overdrafts.
The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80 per cent of each loan – subject to a per-lender cap on the number of bad loans it can claim for.
>See also: Coronavirus government statutory sick pay – how to apply for it
The scheme will support loans of up to £1.2m per small business. This new guarantee, which replaces the existing Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), will initially support up to £1bn of lending.
Like the EFG, the idea is to give lenders more confidence in approving credit decisions for small businesses that have insufficient security to meet the lender’s normal requirements.
However, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan will offer more attractive terms for both small business and lenders than the EFG.
Lenders will not charge small businesses or banks for this guarantee.
However, the small business borrower will always remain 100-per-cent liable

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How do I get the government £3,000 coronavirus grant?

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
How do I get the government £3,000 coronavirus grant?
The government has announced small businesses that already pay little or no business rates will be eligible for a one-off coronavirus grant worth up to £3,000.
For a commercial property with a rateable value of £12,000, this is one quarter of its rateable value, or comparable to three months of rent.
>See also: How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
Around 700,000 businesses in England currently eligible for Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR) or Rural Rate Relief can apply for the emergency funding.
The additional £2.2bn of funding for local authorities is part of a package of fiscal measures to help small business survive the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the £3,000 coronavirus grant only applies to small business in England. Business rates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are set by their devolved administrations.
This comes on top of the government announcing in the 11 March Budget that companies in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will not pay any business rates this year.
The discount that pubs receive on their business rates will increase from £1,000 to £5,000.
The government will also

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Budget 2020 what it means for small business – analysis and live blog

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £30bn spending package to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Government to cover statutory sick pay for SMEs
Statutory sick pay will be available to all those advised to self-isolate from the virus. The government will refund the cost of statutory sick pay for up to 14 days to small- and medium-sized businesses at a cost of £2bn. This will apply to businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
Announcing his Budget this afternoon, the chancellor acknowledged coronavirus would cause “temporary disruption” to the economy.
Jonathan Richards, CEO and founder of Breathe, added: “As a small business owner, it’s reassuring that the government will cover the strain caused by sick pay, as well as offering significant loans and cash injections to UK small businesses.
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
A “Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme” will support up to a further £1bn lending to smaller businesses. The government will guarantee bank loans to small businesses on amounts of up to £1.2m. The government will cover bank losses of up to 80pc.
Business rates to be scrapped for certain businesses…
Business rates will be abolished altogether for smaller firms in retail, leisure and hospitality

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Insights for small businesses on how to navigate uncertainty post Brexit

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
Brexit was officially set in motion last month and the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union is already underway. From January 31, 2020 until the end of December 2020, the UK and EU will be in a transitional period of alignment with the EU during which both parties will hopefully negotiate new trading agreements. Interestingly, the implementation of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is already throwing up some concerns about how UK businesses are likely to fare at the end of the transitional period.
Brexit will affect everybody living in the UK and in the EU to varying degrees and businesses on both sides of the divide must be ready to adapt to new realities as free trade of products and services and the free movement of people happen under a new set of rules.
A state of uncertainty
For the rest of 2020, businesses are likely to be stuck in limbo even though they are theoretically supposed to be operating under existing trade agreements. The fact that businesses don’t know how the business landscape, their relationship with EU counterparties, tariffs, paperwork, or shipping routes might look like in the next 10 months is precipitating

Read more...