Category Archives: COVID-19 Updates

Chancellor Rishi Sunack announced there will be £1bn support for UK businesses affected by the Omicron variant of Covid. The support consists of one-off grants, statutory sick pay, and further funding for the arts and culture sector after the Omicron variant emptied theatres and other hospitality venues just before Christmas. Since the announcement of Plan…

Last year may have been one of the toughest years UK business has seen in living memory, but it also saw the setting of an all-time record that should serve as an encouraging sign for the future of British entrepreneurship.  According to figures from digital payments specialist Tyl by Natwest, a whopping 770,000 new businesses…

In another indicator that the UK’s business recovery is picking up pace, it has been reported that output across numerous sectors reached a six-month high in March.  According to Bank of Scotland’s UK recovery tracker, 11 of the UK’s 14 business sectors showed an increase in their output, compared to just six the previous month. …

Plymouth Businesses can now apply for their Restart Grants through the Plymouth City Council website. The scheme is designed to help rate-paying non-essential businesses to reopen safely as restrictions ease. Businesses are eligible for the grant if they are rate-paying, trading on 1 April 2021, and in the non-essential sectors (retail, hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal…

The government have extended the CJRS scheme to 30th September 2021. Under CJRS rules for the period November 2020 to April 2021 employees that have been employed by the company on or before the 30th October 2020, and were included on a RTI submission to HMRC during the period 20th March 2020 and 30th October…

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £5bn Restart Grant scheme to help any small business badly impacted by Covid-19 – and support them as they get ready to reopen. The multi-billion pound package of support will replace the monthly Local Restrictions Support Grant (for open and closed businesses) due to end later this month, and…

The British finance ministry has said that it will not publish the final report of its fundamental review of business rates until the autumn, when it expects a clearer economic outlook.  HM Treasury confirmed on 19th February that “due to the ongoing and wide-ranging impacts of the pandemic and economic uncertainty”, it would wait until…

You might already be aware that last December saw some important updates to the furlough scheme rules. One important change concerned the payment of employees’ notice pay while on furlough, to prevent the scheme from being used for any employee that is retiring, being made redundant, or is working their notice. It was made clear…

The New Year means many things to many people, but one thing it should certainly mean for millions of people in the UK is the completion of a timely self-assessment tax return.  The coronavirus crisis, however, may have complicated your efforts to submit your 2019 to 2020 return by the 31st January deadline. It might…

As individuals and businesses continue to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, many will be concerned about their UK tax implications, especially if they are unable to pay them on time.  So, how are HMRC helping people with their January tax bill? With taxpayers facing tax debts this quarter (whether this is income tax or…

Given the current climate, many have taken advantage of the various government-backed loan schemes available. Most commonly Bounce Back Loans (BBLS) will have been taken – lesser known are the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loans, which are for the larger business with turnover exceeding £200,000. Recently the CBILS deadline has moved to 31…

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £4.6 billion programme of new lockdown grants to support businesses and protect jobs through the next phase of the pandemic. To summarise what we know currently, businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 to help keep them afloat until…