Monthly Archives: November 2020

Start by having the courage to take a big swing.

During Uncertain Times, SMBs Can Rely On What They're Best At: Talking to Their Customers

by Ankur Prasad • November 6, 2020 • 0 Comments

Online messaging and conversation can enable small businesses to effectively build relationships with their customers

Sunak extends furlough to whole of UK until March 2021

by Anna Jordan • November 6, 2020 • 0 Comments

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
UPDATED: Rishi Sunak has extended the 80 per cent furlough scheme until the end of March 2021, capped at £2,500 per worker.
The extended furlough scheme will operate across the UK, not just England as originally announced, and employers need only cover National Insurance and pension contributions.
To be eligible for the scheme, employees do not need to have been placed on furlough previously but must have been on an employer’s RTI payroll submission on or before October 30 2020.
An employer may rehire an employee to place them on furlough if they were made redundant after September 23.
Further guidance is due to be released on November 10.
However, it is unlikely that many businesses, having gone through the process and cost of the redundancy, will have a change of heart and rehire employeees – leaving the chancellor open to criticism that he should have been bolder and extended the furlough earlier.
The Bank of England said it expects 5.5 million people to be on the furlough scheme this month, which the Resolution Foundation said would cost £6.2bn. The cost in future months will be lower if the economy reopens. At the height of the pandemic in April

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When and where to apply for the new 80% self-employed grant

by Timothy Adler • November 6, 2020 • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Rishi Sunak has announced that the third self-employed income support grant covering November to January will increase to 80 per cent of profits.
The next self-employed grant will be capped at £7,500 per person, based on average trading profits.
The online service for the next self-employed grant will be available from November 30 through the GOV.UK website.
>See also: Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) to be doubled for November
The self-employed grant is taxable income and also subject to National Insurance contributions.
The government has already announced there will be a fourth grant covering February to April 2021, the level of which has yet to be announced.
Universal Credit U-turn
The government has also extended the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor, a rule within the universal credit system which capped payments to self-employed workers to the equivalent of what you’re given if you are working full-time on minimum wage but still claiming.
The Treasury said that the cost of support for the self-employed would be up to £7.3bn, £2.8bn of which was new money announced for the third self-employed grant.
Who’s still excluded from the self-employed grant
However, swathes of the self-employed – calculated to be 690,000 people – are still excluded