Tag Archive for Coronavirus

The BCC is calling on the government to help businesses rebuild

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Optimism has grown since lockdown restrictions have started to ease, but businesses are still worried about the months ahead.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has created a report outlining proposals to help businesses build back stronger.
It focuses on five key areas:

Manage the virus response in a way that helps businesses survive and thrive
Economic health and investment
Build an ambitious global trade strategy
Skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow
Invest in the places where we live, work, study and play

Let’s see what they had to say.
>See also: Sunak ignores small business pleas for more help to get through lockdown
Manage the virus response in a way that helps businesses survive and thrive
UK-wide co-ordination of virus management and recovery, ensuring consistency of approach across nations
Set out a long-term Coronavirus testing strategy so businesses can plan with confidence
Set out contingency plans for future virus response so businesses can invest in their future with confidence
Economic health and investment
Require lenders to accept requests from Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan customers for the term of their loans to be extended from six to up to ten years
Introduce a blended approach to businesses’ Coronavirus-related debt, including a student-loan style option, so firms only

Read more...

The BCC is calling on the government to help businesses rebuild

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Optimism has grown since lockdown restrictions have started to ease, but businesses are still worried about the months ahead.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has created a report outlining proposals to help businesses build back stronger.
It focuses on five key areas:

Manage the virus response in a way that helps businesses survive and thrive
Economic health and investment
Build an ambitious global trade strategy
Skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow
Invest in the places where we live, work, study and play

Let’s see what they had to say.
>See also: Sunak ignores small business pleas for more help to get through lockdown
Manage the virus response in a way that helps businesses survive and thrive
UK-wide co-ordination of virus management and recovery, ensuring consistency of approach across nations
Set out a long-term Coronavirus testing strategy so businesses can plan with confidence
Set out contingency plans for future virus response so businesses can invest in their future with confidence
Economic health and investment
Require lenders to accept requests from Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan customers for the term of their loans to be extended from six to up to ten years
Introduce a blended approach to businesses’ Coronavirus-related debt, including a student-loan style option, so firms only

Read more...

Small business to spend £23bn this year alone keeping Covid safe

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses will spend £23bn this year on making premises Covid safe, according to research by financial services provider Hitachi Capital.
Office risk assessments, signs, sanitising products, professional cleaning and air filtering systems are forecast to cost every UK small business about £4,850 each on average this year, the equivalent of just under £23bn in total.
Hitachi Capital surveyed 1,500 small businesses for its survey.

Fixed premises will cost on average £5,443 this year to be Covid safe
Outdoor on onsite businesses cost on average £5,446 to be Covid safe
Businesses offering home working expect to spend on average £3,660

Small business that is completely working remotely (20 per cent of those surveyed) will have the smallest Covid-secure costs, with 68 per cent not spending anything on disease control and 21 per cent spending less than £1,000 per company.
>See also: Covid debt drowning small businesses to the tune of £104bn
Losing money to keep Covid safe
Meanwhile, one third of small businesses are losing money by sacrificing customer numbers to keep Covid safe, according to a separate Iwoca survey.
A quarter of small businesses are experiencing fewer sales because of coronavirus social distancing, the survey found. Four out of 10 small businesses

Read more...

Small business to spend £23bn this year alone keeping Covid safe

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses will spend £23bn this year on making premises Covid safe, according to research by financial services provider Hitachi Capital.
Office risk assessments, signs, sanitising products, professional cleaning and air filtering systems are forecast to cost every UK small business about £4,850 each on average this year, the equivalent of just under £23bn in total.
Hitachi Capital surveyed 1,500 small businesses for its survey.

Fixed premises will cost on average £5,443 this year to be Covid safe
Outdoor on onsite businesses cost on average £5,446 to be Covid safe
Businesses offering home working expect to spend on average £3,660

Small business that is completely working remotely (20 per cent of those surveyed) will have the smallest Covid-secure costs, with 68 per cent not spending anything on disease control and 21 per cent spending less than £1,000 per company.
>See also: Covid debt drowning small businesses to the tune of £104bn
Losing money to keep Covid safe
Meanwhile, one third of small businesses are losing money by sacrificing customer numbers to keep Covid safe, according to a separate Iwoca survey.
A quarter of small businesses are experiencing fewer sales because of coronavirus social distancing, the survey found. Four out of 10 small businesses

Read more...