{"id":543,"date":"2020-04-13T16:38:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T15:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/?p=543"},"modified":"2022-01-24T10:45:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T10:45:34","slug":"covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/?p=543","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 help available for your business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">COVID-19 help available for your business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak begins to directly impact more businesses, the Government and other bodies are taking steps to ease the pressure on SMEs. To help you access all the available support, here is a compiled list of recent updates and the latest advice for SME businesses affected by Coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Head to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19\/covid-19-support-for-businesses\">support\nfor business<\/a> page of the Government website for details of the initiatives\nwhich the Government introduced in the recent budget <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Business rates holiday for retail, hospitality\nand leisure businesses for the 2020\/21 Tax year. It will be applied\nautomatically to your next council tax bill. <\/li><li>\u00a325,000 grant to retail, hospitality and leisure\nbusinesses operating from smaller premises. <\/li><li>\u00a310,000 grant to businesses eligible for small\nbusiness rates relief or rural rate relief. <\/li><li>Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme\nhelps SMEs get better access to bank lending and overdrafts. Here\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.british-business-bank.co.uk\/ourpartners\/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-scheme-cbils\/accredited-lenders\/\">list\nof lenders<\/a> involved. <\/li><li>COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility, the Bank\nof England will buy short term debt from larger companies. Available w\/c 23\nMarch. More info on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankofengland.co.uk\/markets\/market-notices\/2020\/ccff-market-notice-march-2020\">BoE\nWebsite<\/a>. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All businesses and\nself-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax\nliabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through\nHMRC\u2019s Time To Pay service. You can call a dedicated hotline to negotiate an\nagreement based on your individual circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dedicated hotline: 0800 015\n9559 If you are self-employed, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/contact-jobcentre-plus\">Jobcentre Plus<\/a> can help\nyou claim what you are entitled to under Universal Credit and Employment\nSupport Allowance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Who can you talk to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsb.org.uk\/campaign\/covid19.html\">The Federation of Small\nBusinesses<\/a> offers the following advice on people you should talk to if\nyou\u2019re having difficulty. This page has plenty of detail including contact\ninformation \u2013 worth a visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protecting your business from disruption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Who can you talk to? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Talk to your insurer about what happens if you\nhave to close your business. <\/li><li>&nbsp;Talk to\nyour bank about finance options. In addition to considering new overdraft\nfacilities, banks and finance providers should also be lenient on things like\nloan repayment. <\/li><li>Talk to your customers about payment and chase\nlarge businesses for immediate payment.<\/li><li>Talk to the Government about business support. <\/li><li>Talk to HMRC about time to pay your tax, sick\npay costs and employment allowance help.<\/li><li>Talk to your local authority about your business\nrates, grants and hardship funds. <\/li><li>Talk to your landlord about a rent holiday.<\/li><li>Talk to Jobcentre Plus about benefits for the\nself-employed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Looking after your employees <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UK Government has\npublished guidance for employers, explaining how to tackle the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. <\/li><li>What to do if an employee is suspected of\ncarrying Coronavirus. <\/li><li>Advice for individuals who have travelled to\nparticular areas. <\/li><li>How staff should respond if they come into\ncontact with someone that has contracted Coronavirus. The full guidance is\navailable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-employees-employers-and-businesses\">here.<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Banks and Finance Barclays,\nSantander, Virgin Money, and TSB have announced they will be offering payment\nholidays for loans and mortgages to help businesses and individuals affected by\nCoronavirus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Barclays has launched a free telephone helpline\noffering support and information to its business banking customers. It is also\nproviding repayment holidays. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barclays.co.uk\/coronavirus\/\">Coronavirus:\nfrequently asked questions<\/a> <\/li><li>Lloyds has launched a \u00a32 billion package to help\nminimise disruption to business operations. Support includes repayment\nholidays, and no arrangement fees for new or increased overdrafts, invoice\ndiscounting and finance facilities. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lloydsbank.com\/business\/coronavirus.html\">Lloyds Banking\nGroup COVID-19<\/a> <\/li><li>NatWest has announced a \u00a35 billion fund to\nsupport small and medium-sized firms to deal with the impact of Coronavirus.\nSupport includes the provision of working capital, loan repayment holidays and\ntemporary emergency loans with no fees. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbs.com\/rbs\/news\/2020\/03\/natwest-pledges-p5bn-working-capital-support-for-smes-during-cor.html\">NatWest\npledges \u00a35bn<\/a> <\/li><li>Santander has outlined the support it is\noffering to customers impacted by Coronavirus. Support includes a helpline and\nadvice on managing finances. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.santander.co.uk\/business\">Santander\nbusiness<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Protect your business from fraudsters <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fraudsters are exploiting the\nspread of COVID-19 coronavirus to attempt a variety of scams and cybercrime.\nVisit our Security Centre for information on how to protect your business from\nthe latest threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Get more information on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk\/News\/News-Features\/COVID19\/Covid-19-scams.aspx\">COVID-19\nscams<\/a> and tips on how to keep your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.rbs.co.uk\/business\/security.html\">business safe<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Looking after your mental health <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">COVID-19 will be causing\nstress and worry for small businesses and the self-employed, and it is more\nimportant than ever to make sure you are taking steps to support your own\nmental health as well as that of any employees you may have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mind.org.uk\/information-support\/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing\/\">Mind<\/a>\nhas issued tailored support for mental health in the wake of COVID-19, which\nincludes tips for taking care of your mental health if you have been asked to\nstay and work at home.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.headstogether.org.uk\/programmes\/workplace-wellbeing\/\">Heads\nTogether Workplace Wellbeing hub<\/a> <\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/stress-anxiety-depression\/\">NHS<\/a> has a\ngood page on Mental health and wellbeing with lots of options <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This information is correct at\nthe time of publishing on 23th March 2020 however please bear in mind the\nsituation is changing daily. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COVID-19 help available for your business As the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak begins to directly impact more businesses, the Government and other bodies are taking steps to ease the pressure on SMEs. To help you access all the available support, here is a compiled list of recent updates and the latest advice for SME [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851,"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions\/851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sleepy-maxwell.109-169-87-45.plesk.page\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}