Getting back to Business with the Covid-19 Updates
I hope you are still safe and well.
As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, we need to take advantage (safely) to recover both mentally and economically.
For those juggling working from home and home schooling, from tomorrow, in England, single adults living alone - or single parents with children under 1 can form an "exclusive" support bubble with one other household. This could give parents the opportunity to catch up on some much needed 'me time'.
Having been cooped up for so long, it's likely that as restrictions are lifted, people will flock to reopening businesses. No matter what kind of business you are, it is vital that you organise and prepare so that you can fully operate with the social distancing measures and the 'new normal'.
Promoting a 'safe' return will be an essential element in bringing business back. Are you ready? If not, we can help with our new Bounce Back programme.
If you're still unsure, we can give you two hours of our time, FREE, to help with your planning and organising to get going again. If you are interested, please call me on 01384 355444 or use the contact us form on our website.
As always, please stay safe.
Doug D'Aubrey.
Furlough Scheme
The furlough scheme will be closed to new entrants from 30th June. This means that the last date an employer can furlough a member of staff for the first time is 10th June, to enable them to complete the minimum 3 week furlough period by 30 June.
Flexible Furlough
From 1st July 2020, the furlough scheme will operate more flexibly, and employers will be able to bring employees back from furlough on a part-time basis.
Under this flexible furlough arrangement, employees will be paid their normal wage for the time spent working and receive furlough pay for the time spent on furlough. The furlough payment (and the ￡2,500 cap) will be reduced in proportion to the hours not worked. Further details on how flexible furlough will work are expected to be announced on 12th June.
Employers will need to agree new flexible furlough arrangements with employees and confirm that agreement in writing.
Under the flexible furlough arrangement, the number of employees who are furloughed cannot exceed the total number of employees who have been furloughed on any previous claim under the current CJRS. This will be an issue, for example, where employers have rotated people on furlough and want to bring them all back to work part-time under a flexible furlough arrangement. This would not be permitted under the CJRS as the total number of individuals flexibly furloughed would exceed the total number who have been on furlough in all previous claim periods.
Coronavirus Discretionary Grants Fund
The fund has been set up to support certain small businesses who are not eligible for current COVID-19 grant schemes but who have been impacted by the coronavirus restriction measures.
- Who is the grant for?Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces. Examples could include units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment
- Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment
- Bed & Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates
- Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief
Who is the grant for?
Be quick! Applications will open on Friday 5th June until Monday 15th June.
- You will need a number of documents as evidence to support your application and prove eligibility. It is recommend that you prepare these in advance and have them ready to upload.
To help you prepare here are some examples of the documents they accept and evidence that may be included to demonstrate your eligibility as part of the application process:
- Significant fall in income due to the COVID-19 crisis evidence may include: bank statements for the previous four month period, latest annual accounts
- Evidence of employee number including but not limited to: PAYE, Pay roll, HMRC documentation
- Evidence of fixed property costs including but not limited to: signed lease agreement, license arrangement, mortgage agreement (non domestic)* – detailing monthly costs
- Other evidence of property costs may include – Utility bill, buildings insurance, Business Rates bill
- Evidence of trading as at March 11th 2020 for example; bank statements for the previous four month period, Companies House Registration, Charity Commission Registration or HMRC documentation
- Evidence that your business is a B&B
- All applications must include your most recent business bank statement/nominated account statement for verification purposes
The priority categories will be:
- Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces
- Regular market traders with fixed building costs
- Bed and breakfasts that pay Council Tax instead of business rates
- Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief
Grant values of ￡2,000 will be available for businesses in priority categories with 0-1 employees, ￡5,000 where there are 2-10 employees and ￡10,000 where there are 11-49 employees.
To apply in Dudley click here.
As we find other councils advertising we will bring those to you.
*For the purpose of this scheme, the Council determines fixed property costs to be; payments of mortgage, lease, rent or licence for business premises and not domestic premises (with the exception of Bed and Breakfast only).
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
If you need any help, please contact me on 01384 355444 or using the contact us form on our website.
Please continue to stay safe, follow the advice from the government and continue to support one another.
Best regards,
The ETC team