What support package did Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced for UK businesses?

Answer 1

Chancellor Rishi Sunak earlier this week announced a new £4.6bn package in lockdown grants to support businesses and protect jobs as a result of the latest coronavirus restrictions.

The further support measures follow Monday’s lockdown announcement, and will see one-off top up grants be made available for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring.

The cash is provided on a per-property basis and is expected to benefit over 600,000 business properties, worth £4 billion in total across all nations of the UK.

The Chancellor said:

‘This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen‘

The top-ups will be granted to closed businesses as follows:

£4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under

£6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000

£9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000

The grants come in addition to existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.

A further £594m is also being made available for Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations to support other businesses not eligible for the grants, that might be affected by the restrictions.

CJRS December claims deadline

You must submit any December furlough claims no later than Thursday, January 14.

If you can, it’s best to make a claim once you’re sure of the exact number of hours employees worked so you don’t have to amend the claim at a later date.

As a reminder, the UK Government will pay 80% of employees’ usual wages for the hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,500 per month, until the end of April 2021.

SME lending in the first three quarters of 2020 more than double 2019 total

UK Finance data published yesterday reveals that gross lending to SMEs in the first three quarters of 2020 amounted to more than double the annual total for 2019, reaching £54bn.

The data, released as part of the quarterly Business Finance Review, shows that the UK banking and finance industry has delivered an unprecedented level of support to SMEs throughout 2020. The value of lending in the second and third quarters was £36 billion higher than during the same period of 2019 – driven by continued uptake of government-backed support.