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Coronavirus
Where to find help for small businesses
With the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) posing new and unique challenges for small businesses we've pulled together some useful resources that may help.
The coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) presents new challenges for UK businesses presently. Over the last few weeks, the government have released a series of initiatives designed to support business owners during this difficult time.
We appreciate however, that keeping on top of new information and knowing how to access some of these supportive measures can be tough.
So we’ve condensed this information into an easy to digest overview of all the key announcements and we will continue to update this page. We hope you find it helpful.
What’s the government doing to help businesses?
In recent weeks, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced several measures designed to increase support and investment for UK businesses, these included:
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
- Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS)
- Bounce Back Loan
- Future Fund
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme
- Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF)
- VAT Holidays
- Time to Pay Scheme
- Support for businesses that pay little/no business rates
- Support for Charities
- Support for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
The largest of the announced funding measures is the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme or, CBILS, delivered via the British Business Bank (BBB) which, includes Business Finance, Invoice Finance, Overdrafts and Asset Finance options and enables loans of between £50,001 and £5m per business, representing a large part of the government's overarching £330bn rescue package.
Term loans and asset finance facilities are available for up to six years, overdrafts and invoice finance facilities are available for up to three years. Loans of less than £250,000 are unsecured.
The scheme has now been extended to cover all viable small and medium business who have faced financial difficulty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government is also stopping lenders from requesting personal guarantees for loans under £250,000 and making operational changes to speed up lending approvals.
How does CBILS work?
For businesses: the initial 12 months of interest are covered by government, supporting SMEs to recover from the impact of the virus
For lenders: there is a government backed guarantee for 80% of the loan
To be eligible, businesses must:
- Be UK based with an annual turnover of no more than £45 million;
- Have a borrowing proposal which, were it not for the coronavirus outbreak, be considered viable by the lender and;
- Be able to prove that they could continue trading through any short to medium-term difficulty
How do you apply for CBILS?
White Oak UK is an accredited lender on the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and now taking applications. Find out more on the scheme below and see if your business is eligible to apply.
Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS)
The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) provides financial support to mid-sized and larger UK businesses across the UK that are losing revenue, and seeing their cashflow disrupted, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The scheme is a part of a wider package of government support for UK businesses and employees.
Specifically, it facilitates access to finance for businesses with a turnover above £45 million, the upper limit for the existing smaller-business focused Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
How does CLBILS work?
CLBILS will be available through a range of British Business Bank accredited lenders and partners, which will be listed on the British Business Bank website.
A lender can provide:
- up to £25 million to businesses with turnover from £45 million up to £250 million
- up to £50 million to businesses for those with a turnover of over £250 million
Finance is available in the form of:
- term loans
- revolving credit facilities (including overdrafts)
- invoice finance
- asset finance
CLBILS gives the lender a government-backed partial guarantee (80%) against the outstanding balance of the facility. The borrower remains fully liable for the debt.
Under the scheme, personal guarantees of any form will not be taken for facilities below £250,000.
For facilities above £250,000, personal guarantees may still be required, but claims cannot exceed 20% of losses after all other recoveries have been applied.
To be eligible, businesses must:
- Be UK-based in its business activity
- Have an annual turnover of more than £45 million
- Have a borrowing proposal which the lender would consider viable, were it not for the current pandemic, and for which the lender believes the provision of finance will enable the business to trade out of any short-term to medium-term difficulty
- Self-certify that it has been adversely impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Not have received a facility under the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).
How do you apply for CLBILS?
To apply, businesses should speak to their bank or accredited CLBILS lender firstly. This is not available directly through White Oak UK.
Additional support announced includes:
Bounce Back Loan
The latest Government scheme will help small and medium-sized businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to apply for loans of up to £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. Find out more on gov.uk here.
Future Fund
The Government has announced a new scheme to issue convertible loans to innovative companies which are facing financing difficulties due to the Coronavirus outbreak: the Future Fund.
The Government will initially make up to £250,000,000 available in total for the scheme. More here.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme
This scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed. More here.
Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF)
The CCFF will provide funding to businesses by purchasing commercial paper of up to one-year maturity, issued by firms making a material contribution to the UK economy. It will help businesses across a range of sectors to pay wages and suppliers, even while experiencing severe disruption to cashflows. More here.
VAT holiday
The UK Government announced temporary changes to the VAT payments due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 to help businesses manage their cash flow. If you chose to defer payments, you must pay the VAT due on or before 31 March 2021.
Time To Pay Scheme
SMEs can request a suspension of HMRC debt collection activities, although this is to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Support for Charities
Charities across the UK will receive a £750 million package of support to ensure they can continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak. More Here.
Support for businesses that pay little/no business rates
There is a one-off grant of £10,000 available to these businesses through the SBBR and RRR schemes.
Support for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors
Business rates will not be due for this year, with an additional £25,000 grant available to some businesses where the rateable value is between £15,000 and £51,000.
Other useful business resources
For up to date guidance and new measures from the Government, we recommend that businesses visit the following sources:
British Business Bank
See the British Business Bank response to the 2020 Budget, including Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
The BBB have a useful list of certain sectors excluded from CBILS - full eligibility list is available here (pdf).
Government Guidance: Support for Businesses
See this page on on gov.uk for information on;
- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- VAT and Income Tax payments
- Support for businesses who are paying sick pay to employees and business rates
See this page on gov.uk for guidance for employees, employers and businesses in providing advice about the novel coronavirus
To help you find the right support, advice and information to help with the impact of coronavirus on your business, you may find the Government’s Business Support Hub as useful resource.
Guidance for Small Businesses
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has collated information and advice for employers in relation to COVID-19.
Full information can be found on the FSB website here.
Advice by Sector
Charity
Construction
- Builduk.org information on coronavirus
- Construction Leadership Council Site Operating Procedures – Protecting Your Workforce (pdf)
Manufacturing
- Latest advice from Britain’s largest Manufacturing trade body here on madeinbritain.org
Retail
Aviation
Tourism
Meetings and Events
Railway
Music Industry
Why choose White Oak UK?
- No red tape, so you can receive funds in as little as 24 hours
- We accept 4 out of every 5 applications
- Apply quickly and easily with E-sign loan documents
- You’ll always speak to the same person
- Free up cash flow for other areas of your business
- Tailored finance agreements to suit your specific needs
