Hundreds of firms yet to receive money through furlough scheme May 12, 2020 Hundreds of UK firms who have furloughed staff during the coronavirus pandemic are yet to receive money through the government’s scheme. The job retention scheme has been a cornerstone of the Chancellor’s coronavirus support package. It sees the government pay up to 80 per cent of wages, of up to £2,500 a month, to workers [...]
Banking mustn’t just put up with tech, but embrace it May 12, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the world of business. Arguably, the most pressing being how organisations, unable to operate in their usual capacity, can access funds to remain afloat. To put the scale of this issue into context, it is predicted that if not supported correctly, a fifth of all UK SMEs [...]
British startups call on Treasury to change terms of Future Fund May 11, 2020 Some of Britain’s most successful startups are being locked out of the government’s coronavirus Future Fund and are calling on the Treasury to change the terms. More than 30 founders of Britain’s brightest startups have written to the Treasury asking them to modify the terms of the loan scheme. They want startups without a UK [...]
Small businesses call for furloughed workers to return to work May 11, 2020 Staff should be allowed to return to work while furloughed to help improve the chances of their employer’s business of surviving the Covid-19 crisis, small businesses have said. In an open letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, business owners said that while the job retention scheme had helped businesses avoid layoffs, the current plan meant employers [...]
Coronavirus: Digital is at the heart of SME recovery May 9, 2020 Gary Turner is co-founder of Xero Behind the sobering statistics around businesses in financial distress, thousands of SMEs are making radical changes to their working models through digitisation. Businesses that have been traditional at the core are now discovering that digital processes offer far greater scalability and resilience, and as a result of Covid-19 I [...]
Banking boss raises prospect of further changes to Coronavirus Business Loan Scheme May 8, 2020 There could be further changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) as more data emerges on the number of rejected applications, according to the head of the banking industry group, UK Finance. Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “I think as the data gets better we will continue to find where [...]
Banks blasted over ‘disappointingly slow’ pace of lending as coronavirus loans hit £5.5bn May 7, 2020 Banks have lent over £5.5bn to SMEs through the CBILS scheme but a leading industry body has said the process is still too slow. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the improvement in the number of firms accessing CBILS is welcome. However, head of economics Suren Thiru said that with many firms “only having [...]
£2bn of ‘bounce back’ loans for SMEs approved in first 24 hours May 6, 2020 More than 69,000 so-called coronavirus bounce back loans were approved on the first day of them being made available via banks. The approvals equate to over £2bn in loans during the first 24 hours of the bounce back scheme’s launch on Monday, chancellor Rishi Sunak said today. The seven largest UK banks including HSBC, Barclays, [...]
Business organisations form coalition in response to coronavirus May 6, 2020 Leading employer organisations have joined forces to create a united voice for business in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A group of more than 20 organisations have formed the Business Action Council (BAC), which claims to represent more than half a million businesses across the UK. Its founding members include the Confederation of British Industry [...]
Nine new lenders approved under coronavirus loan scheme May 6, 2020 Investec is among a group of nine lenders that have today been approved for accreditation under the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS). Assetz Capital, Atom bank, Ebury, Fleximize, Investec, Social Investment Business, Tower Leasing, Ultimate Finance and White Oak UK will now be able to provide financial support to small businesses across the [...]