Wed 3rd Jun 2020
by Creative Quarter
Nottingham City Council has launched a £3.35m Nottingham Small Business Fund to help small companies who have previously been ineligible for earlier Coronavirus-related grants.
Work KnowledgeThe UK government recently announced a new top-up grant scheme to help small and micro businesses that businesses, previously outside the scope of the business grant funds scheme. Nottingham City Council has been awarded £3.35m from this Discretionary Grant Fund, which the council is calling the Nottingham Small Business Fund.
This fund is aimed at small and micro businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs, such as small businesses based in shared offices or other flexible workspaces; regular market traders; bed & breakfasts that pay Council Tax instead of business rates; and small charities with properties. The funding is limited and not for businesses who are eligible for the Small Business Rate Relief grant or the retail/hospitality/leisure operator grant. However, businesses who have applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or the eligible the Self-Employed Income support scheme (SEISS) are still eligible to apply.
Grants of up to £2,500, £5,000 and a maximum award of £10,000 will be available for businesses who were trading prior to 11 March and who have been ineligible for other grant funding. If you are a small business of the type mentioned above, check your eligibility and apply for the fund below, before 15 June 2020.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK ELIGIBILITY AND APPLY
Please note all information is correct at the time of publication, but may be subject to change. All of our information is taken from verified sources, and we encourage all business to read the dedicated government website on Coronavirus-related support: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support
The Government's Business Support Finder and other helpful links...
The government has a ‘support finder’ tool will help businesses and self-employed people across the UK to quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them during the coronavirus pandemic. The new online platform on gov.uk asks business owners and the self-employed to fill out a quick and simple online questionnaire. They will then be directed to a list of all the financial support they may be eligible for. You can access the tool here.
Working safely during the coronavirus pandemic: The UK government have updated their latest guidance for employees, employers and businesses on how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic. There are currently 8 guides covering range of work settings, including offices, shops and restaurants providing delivery services. See here for more information.
Coronavirus Business Support Blog: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have launched a new Coronavirus Business Support Blog where you can access a number of case studies and find out how other businesses have used government support schemes and working safely guidance.
National Business Support Helpline: This govenment helpline now has a freephone number: 0800 998 1098. The helpline provides free, impartial business support and signposting services to businesses in England – which currently includes business advice on Covid-19. You can also find free support, advice and sources of finance through your local growth hub.
From Tuesday 26 May 2020, small and medium-sized employers, with fewer than 250 employees, will be able to apply to recover the costs of paying coronavirus-related Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) payments they have made to their employees.
Employers will be able to make claims to the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme through a new online service. Employers will receive repayments at the relevant rate of SSP that they have paid to current or former employees for eligible periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
You may be able to access the Self-employment Income Support Scheme. If you have lost income due to coronavirus, the scheme currently allows you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total. You must apply for this first grant before 13 July 2020.
The scheme has recently been extended and applicants will be able to apply for a second and final grant in August 2020. If you’re eligible the second and final grant will be a taxable grant worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering a further 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
Applications are now open online for the first grant.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you’re due to pay a self-assessment payment on account by 31 July 2020 but the impact of the coronavirus causes you difficulty in making payment by that date, then you may defer payment until January 2021. The deferment is optional - if you are still able to pay your second payment on account on 31 July you should do so.
If you’re in temporary financial distress because of COVID-19 you can discuss your individual circumstances via HMRC’s Time to Pay scheme. Dedicated helpline: 0800 024 1222
If you cannot maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month. Until the end of July 2020, the government will cover the full cost of paying 80% of the employees wages. From 1 August until the end of October 2020, the scheme will continue with the employee still guarnateed at least 80% of their wages, but the government contribution will reduce month-by-month, with the employer expected to make up the difference. Employees can be on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts.
The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3 week period prior to 30 June. This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June, in order for the current 3 week furlough period to be completed by 30 June. Employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June.
To be eligible for the grant, when on furlough, an employee cannot undertake work for, or on behalf, of the organisation. A furloughed employee can take part in volunteer work or training if it does not provide services to or generate revenue for, or on behalf of your organisation. Furloughed employees should be encouraged to undertake training and we encourage any creative or digital businesses in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire with staff on furlough to consider enrolling for The Big House programme, which continues to offer workshops and training online.
The online claim service for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme can be accessed here.
Salaried company directors paid through a PAYE scheme are also able to be furloughed through the Job Retention Scheme. Any furlough arrangements should be adopted formally as a decision of the company (i.e. via Board agreement). Furloughed directors need to fulfil their statutory obligations as set out in the Companies Act 2006. They should not do work of a kind they would carry out in normal circumstances to generate commercial revenue or provides services to or on behalf of their company. Voluntary work or training is permissible, as above.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Government announced support via a business grant scheme up to £25,000.
Businesses which, as of the 11 March 2020, are eligible for :
Those businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will receive the following levels of grant payment:
The scheme is being administered by your local authority (i.e. Nottingham City Council, Gedling Borough Council). Your local authority will be in touch with you directly, however, some have already set up processes to collect information from business. If your Local Authority is Nottingham City Council, you can fill in your application form here.
To find out which local authority you pay your business rates to, check here.
In addition, the government will temporarily ban the use of statutory demands (made between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2020) and winding up petitions (presented from Monday 27 April, through to 30 June), where a company cannot pay its bills due to coronavirus. Click here for more information.
The Bounce Back Loans scheme will allow businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 and access the cash within days. The government will guarantee 100% of the loan and there won’t be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months. In addition, no repayments will be due during the first 12 months, and once repayments do begin, the interest rate will be capped at 2.5%.
Firms will be able to access these loans through a network of accredited lenders. The government will work with lenders to agree a low standardised level of interest for the remaining period of the loan. The loans will be easy to apply for through a short, standardised online application. The scheme is now open.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is a government-backed loan scheme available to small and medium sized business whose cashflow has been disrupted as a result the Coronavirus. The scheme is available through a network of 40 lenders accredited by the British Business Bank. These include high-street banks as well as smaller specialist local lenders. A lender can provide up to £5 million in the form of loans, overdrafts, asset finance and invoice finance. CBILS provides the lender with government-backed guarantee against the outstanding balance of the facility to encourage lending. The scheme is a loan, not a grant; therefore, the borrower remains 100% liable for the debt.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
The D2N2 Growth Hub are keen to hear what the impacts of Covid-19 are on local businesses, so that they can feed this back to government.
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