Simply Doughnuts is one of a number of British businesses that the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has approached, asking us to spread the word about the support that’s available to businesses during the period of the coronavirus pandemic.

The following is an extract from a formal statement by BEIS:

Coronavirus Business Support

The Government’s Business Support website (businesssupport.gov.uk) outlines the full range of business support measures that have been made available to UK businesses and employees.

It includes details on:
Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme which will help businesses affected to access bank lending and overdrafts if they need to. For loans up to £5 million, the Government is providing a guarantee for each loan. Find out more.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme where all UK employers with a PAYE scheme will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those who would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. Find out more.

Business Rates Holiday for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sectors in England for the 2020-21 tax year. Find out more.

Up to £25,000 per property Cash Grant for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure in England. Find out more.

Small Business Grant Funding for small businesses in England that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief, rural rate relief and tapered relief. Find out more.

Statutory Sick Pay Rebate to allow small and medium-sized businesses to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay paid for staff absence due to coronavirus. Find out more.

Time to Pay – all businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time to Pay Service. Find out more.

Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility where the Bank of England will buy short-term debt from larger companies. Find out more.

VAT Deferral for 3 months for businesses. Find out more.

Income Tax Deferral for the Self-Employed under the Self-Assessment System until January 2021. Find out more.

Frequently asked questions that will be regularly updated according to the latest advice and guidance.

Further advice for businesses and employees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is available.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

This scheme, which was originally announced by the Chancellor at Budget, has now opened. It is being run by the British Business Bank and over 40 accredited lenders, who can provide lending of up to £5m for smaller businesses across the UK who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow. It will support the continued provision of finance to SMEs during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is an important scheme for SMEs, and we would appreciate your help in distributing information about it so that as many SMEs as possible can make use of it at an extremely difficult time. Information for SMEs and business advisors can be found here. Information for accredited lenders or prospective lenders can be found here.

Keeping Children at Home

DfE are putting out messages on social media asking people to keep children at home if at all possible. Critical workers can still send their children to school and childcare providers if necessary, but to avoid undue pressure on the childcare spaces that are available the message is even if you are a key worker you should try to keep children at home if it is safe to do so e.g. if a partner can look after them.

Please follow and share DfE social media posts, particularly if you work in sectors that are likely to have a lot of key workers.

https://twitter.com/educationgovuk/status/1241843461986402306?s=12

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6647600319565967361/

https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk/photos/a.317627041606420/2790465584322541/?type=1&theater

Please see the Government’s coronavirus hub on gov.uk for the latest advice and guidance on what you need to do.

Thank you for your help in aiding us to disseminate this important and urgent information.

Can You Help?

At Simply Doughnuts, we’re happy to play our part, and we hope other businesses will do the same. The more that companies and individuals help to spread the word, the quicker people will get the message and be ready to take advantage of the support that’s available to them. These measures are designed to minimise any lasting economic damage, so if firms need help, it’s important that they know how and where to get it.

If you’d like to help raise awareness about these business support measures, please visit the Industrial Strategy website, where you can get further information and access a free promotional toolkit.