Last updated: 5th March 2021
National lockdown rules have been in place since the 5 January 2021 which means you must stay at home. Regulations require some businesses to close and also impose restrictions on how some businesses provide goods and services. The full list of businesses required to close can be found in the guidance.
The government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021’ setting out the roadmap out of the current lockdown for England. This explains how the restrictions included in this guidance will be lifted over time.
Outlined below is the support available to businesses and how to access it:
Budget 2021 announcements:
All measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Budget on 3rd March 2021 can be found here.
- Job Retention Scheme – extended to 30th September 2021. Furloughed employees will have 80% of their salary paid for by the government. Find out more about how the scheme is changing here.
- Self-Employed Income Support Scheme – Claims for the third SEISS grant have now closed. The online claims service for the fourth grant will be available from late April 2021. Find out more about the fourth and fifth grant here.
- New Restart Grants – a one off cash grant of up to £18,000 for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses in England.
- A new UK-wide Recovery Loan Scheme to make available loans between £25,001 and £10 million, and asset and invoice finance between £1,000 and £10 million, to help businesses of all sizes through the next stage of recovery. The scheme launches on 6 April and is open until 31 December, subject to review.
- Help to Grow programme – a new programme which will help small and medium sized businesses across the UK learn new skills, reach new customers and boost profits.
- The Government are doubling the apprentice incentive payments for businesses to £3,000 for all new hires, of any age.
- Extension of the Film & TV Production Restart scheme in the UK, with an additional £300 million to support theatres, museums and other cultural organisations in England through the Culture Recovery Fund.
- The 100% business rates holiday for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will continue to the end of June 2021.
- Extension to the VAT cut to 5% for hospitality, accommodation and attractions across the UK until the end of September, followed by a 12.5% rate for a further six months until 31 March 2022.
Restrictions Support Grants:
Business in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant to support them through the 2021 lockdown. The one-off grants will be given to closed businesses as follows:
- £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
The one-off grants are in addition to the existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.
Local authorities have also been given Local Restrictions Support Grant. This grant is for businesses required to close because of national ‘lockdown’ restrictions. Businesses affected, which meet the government eligibility criteria can receive a grant of £3,000. Each local authority has published their application process on their website so please see table below for the contact details and website links.
Local authorities have also been provided with Additional Restrictions Grant funding which is for businesses that have had their trade affected by the restrictions. This includes, closed businesses that don’t pay business rates and businesses that have not been required to close, but are still severely impacted. Each local authority has the discretion on how this funding is allocated.
All grants will be administered by your local authority; the table below provides contact details for the local authorities in Hampshire.
(You will need to click on the table below to access the links, this will open as a PDF file for you)
The government website outlines the financial support available to businesses and has a ‘support finder’ tool which will help identify the financial support that is available to you.
Other financial support
The British Business Bank has a range of borrowing options for businesses: (these schemes are open to applications until 31 March 2021.)
- Business Interruption Loan Scheme – for SMEs with a turnover of no more than £45M per annum.
- Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) provides finance to mid sized and larger businesses, with an group turnover of more than £45 million per annum. The maximum amount available through CLBILS to a borrower and its group has now increased from £50m to £200m.
- Bounce Back Loan Scheme for small and medium-sized businesses who need to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000. The government will guarantee 100% of the loan and there will not be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months.
The full rules of the above schemes and guidance on how to apply is available on the British Business Bank website.
The British Business Bank has closed the Future Fund scheme and the Bank of England has closed the Corporate Financing Facility for new purchases.
Other support
- Job Retention Bonus – this has currently been withdrawn as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until the end of September 2021.
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for businesses that employ fewer than 250 employees.
- Tax deferral – if you deferred your VAT payments last year (2020) can now join the new online VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme to pay it in smaller monthly instalments.
- Deferral of self-assessment payment on account. You have the option to defer your second payment on account if you are registered in the UK for self-assessment and are having difficulties to make a payment.
- Funding streams – several organisations have launched funding programmes to assist local organisations in responding to the challenges Covid-19.
- There are several Business Representative Organisations and Trade Associations in the UK offering sector specific guidance and are happy to hear from non-members and members alike, so do get in touch to find out more.
Local support
You can also find free support, advice, and information on sources of finance through your local Growth Hub.
- The EM3 Growth Hub have a dedicated helpline for business and can provide one to one support and advice, access to information, webinars and other sources of support for businesses in the EM3 region.
- The Solent Growth Hub are working with several partners to identify additional support for businesses in the Solent region including additional funding and advice. On the Coronavirus Support Hub you will find a page dedicated to the support being offered.
If you have a query that isn’t covered by this guidance you can contact the Government Business Support Helpline.
