Support Schemes
Chancellor announces business support in Autumn Budget
Click here to see what was announced in October 2021 at a glance, including:
– Exemption from business rates on plant and machinery used onsite for renewable energy
– 50% business rates discount for retail, hospitality, & leisure sectors for 1 year
– £3.8 billion to develop skills and ‘Multiply’ adult maths programme
– Global Talent Network for recruitment abroad and new scale-up visa
– Levelling Up Fund: £1.7bn allocated in the infrastructure in over 100 local areas
– A rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50
– Alcohol Duties: planned increase in duty on spirits cancelled and duties cut by 5% on draught beer and cider
– Planned rise in fuel duty cancelled
Financial Support
A full range of business support measures have been made available to UK businesses and employees.
The below is a brief overview of financial support that the government have announced in 2020 and 2021 – please always check your eligibility for these schemes on the government’s website gov.uk.
To find out what support is available to you including loans, tax relief and cash grants, use the government’s business support finder.
Announced in 2020 and ongoing
Working from Home – Claim tax relief for your job expenses – You may be able to claim tax relief for additional household costs if you have to work from home because of COVID. This includes things like heating, metered water bills, home contents insurance, business calls or a new broadband connection. Click here to find out more and apply.
£500 Test and Trace Support Payment – Individuals can now apply for a payment of £500 under the Test and Trace Payment Support Scheme provided if they have been notified by contact tracers or the app to self-isolate and that they meet the eligibility criteria. Click here to read more.
Pay as You Grow – Repayment windows of Bounce Back Loans have been extended from six years to ten and interest-only periods of up to six months and payment holidays will also be available to businesses. This is now open, click here.
More Time to Pay for Self-assessed Income Tax Payers – A 12-month extension from HMRC, meaning payments deferred from July 2020, and those due in January 2021, will now not need to be paid until January 2022. This is now open, click here.
Announced in 2020 and ongoing
Kickstart Scheme – The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. Click here for more information and to apply.
A Plan for Jobs 2020 – Delivering his Summer Economic Update in Parliament on 8th July 2020, the Chancellor announced a package of measures to support jobs. Read more about A Plan for Jobs here.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will repay employers the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid to current or former employees.
The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks starting from the first qualifying day of sickness. The online service is open for applications.
Business Support & Tools
Employment and Skills Incentive Schemes Guide – A handy one-page guide is now available for businesses, weighing up the choices for 16+/18+ employment schemes and the funding available.
Updated Workplace Guidance has been published.
Recovery Advice for Business gives small firms access to FREE advice from experts. Advice offered will include bespoke assistance in accountancy, legal, marketing and more. Read more here.
The Lincolnshire Better Business for All Toolkit has many resources to help businesses become COVID-secure, resume trading safely and protect staff and customers as lockdown is eased. All information you need in one handy guide!
Jobcentre Plus provide support to employers and employees in redundancies. If you are a business owner or employee facing redundancy, click here.
Westfield Health have released free guides to help you with issues such as controlling worry, staying active, back care, sleep and rest, and more. Download here.
Recovery Loan Scheme
Launched on 6 April 2021, the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) provides financial support to businesses across the UK as they recover and grow following the coronavirus pandemic.
You can apply to the scheme if COVID-19 has affected your business. You can use the finance for any legitimate business purpose – including managing cashflow, investment and growth. However, you must be able to afford to take out additional debt finance for these purposes.
If your business has already borrowed from any of the other coronavirus loan schemes – namely:
– the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS)
– the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
– the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS)
RLS is still open to you. However, the amount you’re allowed to borrow will depend on:
– the lender’s assessment of your business
– the scheme requirements
The RLS will run until 31 December 2021, though this may be reviewed.
How much is available?
The maximum amount of a facility provided under the scheme is £10m per business (maximum £30m per group). Minimum facility sizes vary, starting at £1,000 for asset and invoice finance, and £25,001 for term loans and overdrafts.
The annual effective rate of interest, upfront fee and other fees cannot be more than 14.99%.
Term length
For term loans and asset finance facilities: from three months up to six years.
For overdrafts and invoice finance facilities: from three months up to three years.
Find out more and applyStart Up Loan Scheme
Start Up Loans is part of the British Business Bank, and wants to unlock the talent of thousands more people across the UK by encouraging people thinking about their career options to start their own business via the Start Up Loans scheme.
Of the 80,000+ Start Up Loans recipients since 2012, a third (31%) were unemployed at the time of application. Start Up Loans data also indicates that the scheme is particularly effective in enabling young entrepreneurs to start up a business, with millennials representing more than half (54%) of all previously unemployed loan recipients since 2012.
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