Businesses urge Treasury to incentivise private investors to protect SMEs from collapse June 8, 2020 British businesses have called on the Treasury to incentivise private investors to invest in SMEs that have been badly affected by the coronavirus crisis. In a letter to the Chancellor, law firm Buckworths has asked the government to incentivise so-called angel investors to invest in startups to help them repay the debt that has mounted [...]
London businesses among most confident in the UK, survey shows September 30, 2020 London businesses were among the most confident of any UK region in September, a new survey showed, with sentiment across the country reaching its highest level since lockdown began in March. Business confidence in the capital rose nine points during September to minus four per cent, according to Lloyds Business Barometer. While overall UK confidence [...]
HSBC CEO: Applications for coronavirus loans ‘now easier’ to process April 28, 2020 HSBC’s CEO today blamed the sheer demand for coronavirus loans for banks’ apparent slowness to lend out cash to struggling small businesses. Noel Quinn said banks have seen a “significant volume” of applications for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) so far. And he rejected the notion that a full government guarantee of such [...]
Rishi Sunak unveils 100 per cent state-backed ‘bounce back loans’ for small businesses April 27, 2020 The UK’s smallest businesses will have guaranteed access to loans of up to £50,000 within 24 hours of applying, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced today. The new “bounce back loans” will be 100 per cent guaranteed by the Treasury, meaning the government will take on all the default risk, and will be available from next Monday [...]
Business bodies urge chancellor to ‘go further’ with new furlough scheme October 9, 2020 Businesses in the hospitality sector have said Rishi Sunak’s support package “must go further” to avoid wide-scale job losses, after the chancellor today unveiled a new furlough scheme for businesses facing local lockdowns. Sunak today said the government will pay two thirds of employees’ salaries to businesses forced to shutter under fresh lockdown measures. Firms [...]
Coronavirus will make it harder to raise finance in the next year, say fintech founders August 18, 2020 The majority of fintech founders in the UK believe the pandemic will make it harder to raise finance in the next year. A survey by the Digital Finance Forum (DFF) found that just under half of respondents cited limited access to capital as the most pressing challenge during the pandemic. It comes as the government [...]
Rishi Sunak considers cutting furlough pay to 60 per cent of wages May 5, 2020 As part of a review of the job retention scheme, the government is reportedly considering cutting the 80 per cent wage subsidy to 60 per cent for furloughed staff. The job retention scheme sees the government pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 a month, to 6.3m furloughed workers. However, chancellor Rishi Sunak [...]
Barratt reports strong forward sales as housing market recovers October 14, 2020 Barratt Developments (BDEV) has reported an increase in forward sales as the housing market bounced back from the first wave of coronavirus restrictions. The housebuilder said total forward sales as of 11 October increased 16.7 per cent to 15,135 homes at a value of £3.7bn. It also reported a 20.8 per cent increase in its [...]
Government announces £617m grants for small businesses in shared spaces May 3, 2020 The government today announced a further £617m in grants for small companies that work in shared spaces and are not eligible for business rates relief. The departner for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) said the fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs. Beis said it was asking local authorities to [...]
In full: Rishi Sunak’s virtual Conservative conference speech October 5, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today addressed Conservative virtual conference, pledging to support entrepreneurs but warning of difficult times ahead. Here’s the full speech: “Politics is a team sport” “Being appointed Chancellor in February this year was an immense honour. Even though my first conference speech as Chancellor isn’t quite how I expected it to be, it [...]