Monthly Archives: May 2020

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Small Business Coronavirus Q&A – we answer your questions

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Welcome to the Small Business Coronavirus Q&A.
In the video below, we’ve answered some of your questions on coronavirus funding as well as looking at concerns about what may be coming up in the near future.

I’m joined by an expert panel:
Sarah Greenwood, accountant at Accounts Department Online

Sarah is the complete small business accountant, she is a chartered accountant and Chartered tax advisor.
Sarah began her career in the insolvency team of a large mid-tier firm, spending seven years undertaking business advisory and restructuring work.  After a brief spell at a big-four firm she joined Accounts Department Online in Leeds where she advises SMEs and individuals. Sarah is passionate about her work, and loves helping her clients, especially advising and leading them to improve and grow their businesses.
Accounts Department Online is a virtual accounts office and has a range of clients across the UK.
Richard Bearman, managing director of Start Up Loans

Richard Bearman has over 20 years’ experience in the banking sector and over that time has developed a real passion for working with and supporting entrepreneurs. Richard is managing director at the British Business Bank and is responsible for the Start Up Loans programme.
Richard was previously UK head

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State could take equity in small businesses, suggests Lloyds chairman

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Lord Blackwell, chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, has suggested the government could end up owning equity in thousands of small businesses.
The Lloyds chairman thinks the government would be better off converting loans it is already guaranteeing into equity stakes in small businesses if loans go bad.
Banks and the government would need to work together to “think about how we transform some of that debt that they’ve accumulated into some other kind of security”, he said.
The Bounce Back Loans scheme, which launched on Monday, May 4, lent over £2bn to more than 69,000 small businesses within its first 24 hours.
The parallel Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) has lent £5.5bn to 33,812 businesses since its launch on March 23.
Lord Blackwell, 67, told an online seminar organised by City & Financial Global that debts could be converted into equity or an equity-type of security.
Viable businesses
Government and banks “do need to think about what will be required to recapitalise some of those businesses to ensure that they are viable going forward and otherwise viable businesses aren’t forced into insolvency or liquidation”, he said.
Devising a solution “needs working through urgently so that we can give businesses some

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Top 5 Facebook groups for small businesses during coronavirus

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
SME owners are looking for support through social media sites like Facebook rather than by picking up the phone or joining a business network.
These social media support groups are helping business owners who are struggling to reach organisations on jammed helplines. Plus, they’re a great source of comfort to those who are having a tough time since many businesses were forced to close due to COVID-19.
It’s not a recent trend, either. Iwoca surveyed over 820 business owners pre-coronavirus, looking at their use of social media.
When asked about the best ways to connect with other businesses, respondents preferred social media over phone calls. Some 15 per cent of respondents chose it as the best method, coming third behind introducing themselves personally (25 per cent) and networking (26 per cent). As lockdown has made both of these options near enough impossible, social media support has been a blessing for entrepreneurs.
Nearly half (48 per cent) of business owners with both an online and physical presence said the feeling of being in a community of businesses had improved since they started trading.
>See also: How to get your small business online within an hour
The top five Facebook groups

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Small Business named as a top blog in coronavirus journalism awards

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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

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