There is a variety of support available to businesses within our region including:
- Small Business Grants
- Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS)
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
- Coronavirus Future Fund
- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
- Dairy Response Fund
Small Business Grants
Provided by a Local Authority, a Small Business Grant provides up to £10,000 as a one-off grant to help small business owners meet their operating costs. Businesses that are eligible need to have been in receipt of small business rate relief (SBRR) or rural rate relief (RRR) on the 11 March 2020. Those small businesses whose premises have a rateable value between £12,000 and £15,000 and receive tapered relief also qualify. Eligible businesses can submit their application online via their Local Authority's website. The Government has recently announced a Top-Up of £614m towards supporting businesses currently ineligible for Small Business Grants, including those operating from managed/shared workspaces. Final decisions on funding rest with your local authority.
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Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS)
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is provided by the British Business Bank through 40 participating providers including all major banks. This measure is targeted towards all SMEs affected by Covid-19, and not just those unable to secure regular commercial financing, so long as they meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria. As well as loans, there are many other types of finance supported by CBILS, depending on the provider. These include term facilities, overdrafts, invoice finance facilities, and asset finance facilities. The scheme offers attractive terms for businesses applying for new facilities and the Government will cover the first six months of interest payments so businesses will benefit from lower initial repayments. The maximum value of a facility provided under the CBILS is £5 million and the borrower always remains 100% liable for the debt.
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Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is a temporary scheme open to all UK employers to the end of October starting from 1 March 2020. The CJRS should be operational and taking applications by the end of April and is designed to support employers whose operations have been severely affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19). Employers can use a portal to claim for 80% of furloughed employees’ (employees on a leave of absence) usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on that wage. Employers can use this scheme anytime during this period. The scheme is open to all UK employers that had created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on 28 February 2020.
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Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS)
The Bounce Back Loan scheme will help small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000. The government will guarantee 100% of the loan and there won’t be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months. Loan terms will be up to 6 years. No repayments will be due during the first 12 months. The government will work with lenders to agree a low rate of interest for the remaining period of the loan. The scheme will be delivered through a network of accredited lenders.
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Coronavirus Future Fund
The government’s £500 million Future Fund is now taking applications from innovative and high-growth British businesses looking to secure investment to help them through the Coronavirus outbreak. UK-based companies can now apply for a convertible loan of between £125,000 and £5 million, to support continued growth and innovation in sectors as diverse as technology, life sciences and the creative industries.
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Dairy Response Fund
The dairy response fund has opened today (18 June) for applications from eligible dairy farmers in England in need of support following the coronavirus outbreak. Defra has set up a fund to help those dairy farmers most in need in England overcome the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The new funding will help support dairy farmers who have seen decreased demand for their products as bars, restaurants and cafes have had to close.
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