Tag Archive for Government support

Hot Business News Today

Failings revealed in Covid Recovery Loan Scheme

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By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

A number of problems have been exposed with the government’s Covid Recovery Loan Scheme.

The Times reports that lenders are warning of weak demand for the scheme post-pandemic from small businesses. There are also issues with firms that want to access the state-backed funding.

One banker told the newspaper that the previous Covid-19 emergency funding, totalling around £74bn, had been “too generous”.

The RLS is intended to bridge the gap between the emergency Covid-19 financial support and more normal credit conditions. RLS provides credit up to £10m and comes with an 80 per cent government guarantee for lenders – less generous than the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan scheme (BBLS).

>See also: Recovery Loan Scheme up to £10m will replace CBILS and BBLS

However, there is evidence pointing to other issues with the scheme, namely too few accredited lenders and a high number of application rejections. Only 18 providers are accredited by the British Business Bank to distribute the loans.  

Mr Bounce Back, a website discussing Bounce Back Loans, Recovery Loans and the Recovery Loan Scheme, has had “message after message” from firms

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Hot Business News Today

Failings revealed in Covid Recovery Loan Scheme

by  •  • 0 Comments

By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

A number of problems have been exposed with the government’s Covid Recovery Loan Scheme.

The Times reports that lenders are warning of weak demand for the scheme post-pandemic from small businesses. There are also issues with firms that want to access the state-backed funding.

One banker told the newspaper that the previous Covid-19 emergency funding, totalling around £74bn, had been “too generous”.

The RLS is intended to bridge the gap between the emergency Covid-19 financial support and more normal credit conditions. RLS provides credit up to £10m and comes with an 80 per cent government guarantee for lenders – less generous than the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan scheme (BBLS).

>See also: Recovery Loan Scheme up to £10m will replace CBILS and BBLS

However, there is evidence pointing to other issues with the scheme, namely too few accredited lenders and a high number of application rejections. Only 18 providers are accredited by the British Business Bank to distribute the loans.  

Mr Bounce Back, a website discussing Bounce Back Loans, Recovery Loans and the Recovery Loan Scheme, has had “message after message” from firms

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Calls to extend complex Brexit Support Fund

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By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

The £20m Brexit Support Fund to support struggling businesses after Brexit has only given out £6.8m of its allocated funding.

Individuals and organisations are calling for the fund, now closed to new applications, to extend to a second round.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove launched the Brexit Support Fund in February, encouraging businesses that trade with the EU to claim up to £2,000 each to help pay for training and professional advice. However, figures show that businesses who applied only received £1,555 rather than the £2,000 maximum.

Hilary Benn MP, co-chair of the cross-party UK Business and Trade Commission, said the support scheme was “more of an obstacle course, which discourages applications by making SMEs jump through too many hoops for a very small return”.  

Businesses were only able to apply if their overseas trading was purely focused on the EU, including Northern Ireland, with their imports and exports not going anywhere else. Business groups did lobby to have the rules relaxed so that firms that were predominantly trading with the EU could apply.

>See also: Top five tips for SME exporters in a post-Brexit world

HMRC, who

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Hot Business News Today

Calls to extend complex Brexit Support Fund

by  •  • 0 Comments

By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

The £20m Brexit Support Fund to support struggling businesses after Brexit has only given out £6.8m of its allocated funding.

Individuals and organisations are calling for the fund, now closed to new applications, to extend to a second round.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove launched the Brexit Support Fund in February, encouraging businesses that trade with the EU to claim up to £2,000 each to help pay for training and professional advice. However, figures show that businesses who applied only received £1,555 rather than the £2,000 maximum.

Hilary Benn MP, co-chair of the cross-party UK Business and Trade Commission, said the support scheme was “more of an obstacle course, which discourages applications by making SMEs jump through too many hoops for a very small return”.  

Businesses were only able to apply if their overseas trading was purely focused on the EU, including Northern Ireland, with their imports and exports not going anywhere else. Business groups did lobby to have the rules relaxed so that firms that were predominantly trading with the EU could apply.

>See also: Top five tips for SME exporters in a post-Brexit world

HMRC, who

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Apprenticeship grants

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By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
The good news is that you can get assistance from the government. The funding can help you pay for apprenticeship training and assessment or you can get an apprentice incentive payment which you can use to support your business.
Apprenticeship training and assessment
For training and assessment, the amount of funding you receive depends on whether you pay for the apprenticeship levy. You should be paying the levy if you’re an employer with a pay bill of over £3m a year.
If you do not pay the levy, you will contribute five per cent towards the training costs of your apprentice. You’ll need to agree a payment schedule with your training provider – and you’ll be paying them directly for the training.
The government will pay 95 per cent up to the funding band maximum. They will also pay directly to the training provider. You may be eligible for additional funding depending on you and your apprentice’s circumstances.
You’ll contribute 10 per cent towards the cost of your apprentice’s training and assessment if your apprentice started before April 1 2019. The government pays the remaining 90 per cent. 
If you do

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Hot Business News Today

Apprenticeship grants

by  •  • 0 Comments

By Anna Jordan on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
The good news is that you can get assistance from the government. The funding can help you pay for apprenticeship training and assessment or you can get an apprentice incentive payment which you can use to support your business.
Apprenticeship training and assessment
For training and assessment, the amount of funding you receive depends on whether you pay for the apprenticeship levy. You should be paying the levy if you’re an employer with a pay bill of over £3m a year.
If you do not pay the levy, you will contribute five per cent towards the training costs of your apprentice. You’ll need to agree a payment schedule with your training provider – and you’ll be paying them directly for the training.
The government will pay 95 per cent up to the funding band maximum. They will also pay directly to the training provider. You may be eligible for additional funding depending on you and your apprentice’s circumstances.
You’ll contribute 10 per cent towards the cost of your apprentice’s training and assessment if your apprentice started before April 1 2019. The government pays the remaining 90 per cent. 
If you do

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Half a million businesses at risk of collapse without more support

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
More than half a million businesses are at risk of collapse by the spring unless the government extends Covid business support.
So says thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in its latest report.
The 600,000 businesses at risk of collapse without more support together employ approximately 9m people, “whose jobs could be lost” said the left-of-centre thinktank.
Small businesses (which together are responsible for a large share of UK employment) are most at risk of bankruptcy. About 40 per cent of firms with fewer than 50 employees have less than three months of remaining cash reserves.
>See also: SME owners hold £1.2bn of personal liabilities linked to Covid-19 loans
Half of all hospitality, food and other specialist service companies have less than three months’ cash left, as do 40 per cent of arts and entertainment businesses.
Overall, the number of companies with “dangerously low” cash buffers has risen sharply over the four months to the end of January, as national lockdowns slash trading, the IPPR said.
The chancellor should use the March 3 Budget to extend the furlough scheme, due to end in April, issue more grants, and take equity stakes in businesses in exchange for cash injections,

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Hot Business News Today

Half a million businesses at risk of collapse without more support

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
More than half a million businesses are at risk of collapse by the spring unless the government extends Covid business support.
So says thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in its latest report.
The 600,000 businesses at risk of collapse without more support together employ approximately 9m people, “whose jobs could be lost” said the left-of-centre thinktank.
Small businesses (which together are responsible for a large share of UK employment) are most at risk of bankruptcy. About 40 per cent of firms with fewer than 50 employees have less than three months of remaining cash reserves.
>See also: SME owners hold £1.2bn of personal liabilities linked to Covid-19 loans
Half of all hospitality, food and other specialist service companies have less than three months’ cash left, as do 40 per cent of arts and entertainment businesses.
Overall, the number of companies with “dangerously low” cash buffers has risen sharply over the four months to the end of January, as national lockdowns slash trading, the IPPR said.
The chancellor should use the March 3 Budget to extend the furlough scheme, due to end in April, issue more grants, and take equity stakes in businesses in exchange for cash injections,

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How peer support is helping me and my business

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Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
There has never been a more important time to invest in the future of your business by working with people who know business best. Other business leaders.
Peer Networks is bringing together business leaders to work collaboratively to find solutions to common problems and develop opportunities.
Whether an SME business is facing challenges around product development, HR, tech, finance or navigating through the third national lockdown or the UK’s exit from the EU, peer support can give business owners the opportunity to share these issues in a collaborative environment often leading to high-impactful tangible solutions that reflect on valuable feedback from their peers.
This is what business owners have to say about Peer Networks:
Aspen Peer Networks in Oxfordshire is nearly halfway through the sessions.
One business owner said: “What I found interesting is how people have been coping over the last nine months and the creative and resilience people have shown has been amazing.”
This was echoed by another participant, who said: “What I found for my own personal development is that it helped me in listening to the whole problem rather than jumping to a solution, which is usually what my management style has been.
“So, having that

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How peer support is helping me and my business

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
There has never been a more important time to invest in the future of your business by working with people who know business best. Other business leaders.
Peer Networks is bringing together business leaders to work collaboratively to find solutions to common problems and develop opportunities.
Whether an SME business is facing challenges around product development, HR, tech, finance or navigating through the third national lockdown or the UK’s exit from the EU, peer support can give business owners the opportunity to share these issues in a collaborative environment often leading to high-impactful tangible solutions that reflect on valuable feedback from their peers.
This is what business owners have to say about Peer Networks:
Aspen Peer Networks in Oxfordshire is nearly halfway through the sessions.
One business owner said: “What I found interesting is how people have been coping over the last nine months and the creative and resilience people have shown has been amazing.”
This was echoed by another participant, who said: “What I found for my own personal development is that it helped me in listening to the whole problem rather than jumping to a solution, which is usually what my management style has been.
“So, having that

Read more...