business

Business Responss To Treasury Business Support Announcement

Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000, the Chancellor has announced.

Chancellor announces one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring
£594 million discretionary fund also made available to support other impacted businesses
comes in addition to £1.1 billion further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month and extension of furlough scheme

The Treasury said following the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that these businesses will be closed until at least February half-term in order to help control the virus, and, together with the wide range of existing support, provides them with certainty through the Spring period.

Roger Barker

Responding to the Treasury’s announcement of further coronavirus-related business support, Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors, said:

“This new grant package is welcome, and will go some way to reassuring the worst affected businesses.

“We are particularly pleased the Treasury has taken on board our recommendation to increase the discretionary local authority grant fund. This policy has helped to reach those who haven’t been able to access other support. The Government should be prepared to top up the fund if necessary.

“The Chancellor must remain wary of a Spring cliff-edge in business support as the furlough scheme and other support measures unwind. Businesses will also be keen for the Government to continue setting out its plans for the vaccine roll-out, to support their planning. The path of the virus is extremely uncertain, and Government must be agile in its response to prevent lasting economic damage.”

BCC Director-General, Adam Marshall said:   
"While this immediate cash flow support for business is welcome, itis not going to be enough to save many firms. We need to see a clear support package for the whole of 2021, not just another incremental intervention.

“The government must move away from this drip-feed approach and set out a long-term plan that allows all businesses of all shapes and sizes to plan, and ultimately survive.

“Many smaller firms won’t qualify for the full headline amounts set out in the Chancellor’s statement, and will be left struggling to see how this new top-up grant will help them out of their cashflow problems.

“Support must be sufficient to cover not just those on the front line of retail, hospitality and leisure, but also firms in supply chains and wider business communities who are also feeling the devastating impacts of these restrictions."

Musab Hemsi

Musab Hemsi, Partner, LexLeyton said:

“Businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are engulfed in a fight for survival. Extremely limited turnover, coupled with the fact that premises across the country have been acting under the assumption that they would be allowed to remain open, has resulted in financial vulnerability. Worse still, the huge cost that companies have incurred to make their premises COVID secure appear to have been ignored. Now, a huge number of these businesses find themselves on the precipice of liquidation.

“Whilst today’s announcement on grant funding and previous furlough measures will certainly help in the short term, businesses are in desperate need of a long-term plan to allow them to safely reopen with proper Covid-security. On top of that, to give businesses a fighting chance at continuity, or at least survival, government financial support for worker’s wages/business rates will need to overlap with the gradual increase in turnover once they are allowed to reopen to customers.”