Due to the recent spate of government advisories regarding the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak we wanted to ensure our clients that we remain focused on providing guidance and advice during this time.
We are putting in preventative measures to ensure the safety and health of our clients and ourselves. This being said we will now offer appointments over the phone rather than face-to-face to limit long periods of close proximity. We also ask clients where possible to email queries or forward information electronically.
Should you need to drop paper records to the office please contact us prior to allow us to make the necessary arrangements to accept these.
We cannot stress enough for each of our clients to keep in contact with us over this uncertain time, the sooner we are made aware of a problem the easier it will be to assist.
The Government are ensuring that they have their own financial measures available, these currently include:
- Refund for businesses and employers required to access Statutory Sick Pay for 14 days (per the current advice).
- A 100% Business Rates retail discount for one year for businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sector.
- Funding support for those small businesses that pay little or no Business Rates because of Small Business Rate Relief. Smaller companies could be eligible for a cash grant.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme:
“A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, will launch next week to support businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments. A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, delivered by the British Business Bank, will launch next week to support businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments.” Per Gov.uk guidance to employers and businesses about Covid-19.
HM Revenue & Customs have also introduced an additional ‘Time to Pay’ facility, if your business is in financial distress and has outstanding Tax liabilities, due to the knock on effect of Coronavirus, you may be eligible to receive support. The HMRC Coronavirus helpline is: 0800 015 9559.
In the event of the Government temporarily closing offices and workplaces for a period of time please be assured we have facilities arranged to continue working together and our usual lines of communication will be open.
We know that uncertainty is scary, which is why it is important for everyone to be as calm as possible, and to share your problems rather than bottling them up. We’re all human and we’re all in this together. Stay well and stay safe.