Rishi Sunak considers cutting furlough pay to 60 per cent of wages May 5, 2020 As part of a review of the job retention scheme, the government is reportedly considering cutting the 80 per cent wage subsidy to 60 per cent for furloughed staff. The job retention scheme sees the government pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 a month, to 6.3m furloughed workers. However, chancellor Rishi Sunak [...]
More than 100,000 UK firms apply for ‘bounce back loans’ on first day May 5, 2020 UK banks have reported huge demand for “bounce back loans” on the first day of the new coronavirus lending scheme yesterday, with more than 100,000 of Britain’s smallest businesses applying by this afternoon. The bounce back loan scheme is the latest coronavirus support package for UK firms. Launched yesterday, it offers the UK’s smallest companies [...]
Rishi Sunak: No ‘cliff edge’ to job retention scheme May 5, 2020 Rishi Sunak has moved to assure people that “there will be no cliff edge” to the government’s job retention scheme, signalling that it could be extended past June for some workers. Sunak last night said he was “working to figure out the most effective way to wind down the scheme”, which is paying the wages [...]
Lloyds boss: Coronavirus business loan scheme was ‘painful’ and ‘flawed’ when launched May 4, 2020 The launch of the government’s coronavirus business loan scheme was “painful” and “flawed”, according to one of the top bosses of Lloyds Bank. David Oldfield, group director and chief executive of commercial banking at Lloyds, said today that the government’s emergency loan scheme was “cumbersome and onerous” when it launched. He added that he still [...]
Barclays receiving 35 applications a minute for bounce back loans May 4, 2020 Barclays has received 35 loan applications per minute this morning for the newly launched bounce bank loan scheme, according to the bank’s UK boss. Barclays Bank UK chief executive Matt Hammerstein told a House of Commons committee today that his bank received received 200 applications within minutes of the emergency scheme opening at 8am. The [...]
Startups’ coronavirus Future Fund is a ‘bad deal’ for founders May 4, 2020 The government’s flagship support scheme for startups hit by coronavirus, the Future Fund, has been described as “simply not good enough” and “a bad deal” by one of the UK’s leading tech entrepreneurs. Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO of education technology company Century, said the terms under which money could be accessed through the scheme are [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Priya Lakhani OBE May 4, 2020 In this episode, Christian is joined by Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO of Century – an AI-powered education platform. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Priya, who served as a business adviser to the coalition government, gives a candid and forthright assessment of the government’s support packages for businesses. [...]
UK launches 100 per cent state-backed ‘bounce back’ loans May 4, 2020 The UK’s smallest businesses will be able to apply for 100 per cent state-backed so-called bounce back loans worth up to £50,000 from today. The government’s bounce back loans scheme provides micro loans worth 25 per cent of turnover, up to £50,000, just 24 hours after applying for them. The minimum loan amount is £2,000 [...]
Government announces £617m grants for small businesses in shared spaces May 3, 2020 The government today announced a further £617m in grants for small companies that work in shared spaces and are not eligible for business rates relief. The departner for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) said the fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs. Beis said it was asking local authorities to [...]
Calls grow for job retention scheme to be extended May 3, 2020 Calls are growing for Rishi Sunak to extend the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme past June. The scheme sees the government pay 80 per cent of people’s wages, up to £2,500 a month, for furloughed employees until the end of June. Boris Johnson next week will announce how the UK will ease social distancing restrictions, [...]