Category: Business

Smaller businesses have until the end of the month to apply for grants to help them adapt to new customs and tax rules when trading with the EU. The £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund offers eligible UK traders grants of up to £2,000 to access practical support, including training for new customs processes, rules … Continued

All UK businesses can access loans and other finance of up to £10 million each, following the end of COVID-19 loan schemes. Both business interruption loans – for large firms and SMEs – and bounce-back loans officially closed on 31 March 2021. Firms that received financial support from any of those schemes can apply for … Continued

The year-long business rates holiday in England has been extended for another three months, until the end of June 2021. Eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will then pay a third of their normal charge for the rest of the financial year. A maximum discount of £2 million is available to non-essential retail firms that … Continued

Thousands of small businesses that face severe cashflow problems due to late payments stand to benefit from changes to the prompt-payment code. The Government has strengthened the prompt-payment code so that 95% of invoices from smaller suppliers must be paid within 30 days from 1 July 2021. This has been halved from the current 60 … Continued

Businesses that deferred paying VAT between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 do not need to pay the full amounts by the end of this month. VAT-registered firms were not required to make VAT payments during this deferral period, and initially had until 31 March 2021 to pay any liabilities. However, the Government’s winter … Continued

Retailers experienced their worst annual sales performance since records began, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show. While food sales grew by 5.4%, non-food sales declined by 5% over the same period resulting in an overall fall of 0.3% in 2020. In a year dominated by the effects of COVID-19, the figures marked the … Continued

At least 250,000 small businesses could permanently close this year, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned. The FSB based its forecast on a survey of 1,401 small firms, 5% of which said they expect to go out of business this year. If that percentage was to be applied to the UK’s six million … Continued

Extending the furlough scheme until the end of April 2021 is showing evidence of minimising job losses, a report claims. The scheme offers employers 80% towards furloughed workers’ wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month, currently until 30 April 2021. Employers are still required to pay National Insurance contributions and workplace pension contributions … Continued

Businesses in the sectors hardest hit by COVID-19 can access new one-off grants to help them get through lockdown. The Treasury announced £4.6 million in additional support to help around 600,000 firms in England stay afloat until the spring. Firstly, businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors need to be closed due to the third … Continued

One of the key factors that determine the tax on a business’s right to occupy commercial property in England has been frozen for 2021/22, the Chancellor has confirmed. Buried in the supporting documents of Spending Review 2020 was a freeze on the business rates multiplier, which the Government expects to save retailers £575 million up … Continued