So the bounce back loans are now live and can be accessed via most banks websites as we have been tracking them this morning.
I know we covered most of this last week but the key known facts that we are aware of so far:
- They cover borrowing from £2,000 to £50,000 with some banks adding that the amount borrowed must not exceed 25% of turnover as well as a guideline.
- The Government guarantees 100% of the loan and there will be no repayments within the first 12 months.
- You cannot claim if you are already claiming under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). If you have already received a loan of up to £50,000 through the CBILS you can transfer this to the Bounce Back Loan scheme but this must be arranged with your lender by not later than 4 November 2020.
- After the first year, interest is fixed at 2.5%.
- There are no early repayment fees.
We’re told that the application process should be relatively quick and simple but naturally nobody has been through this and we would initially recommend you contact your bank if this is of interest then liaise with us if you require any assistance.
New premises grant
This one almost slipped under the radar but we spotted it and there is a new discretionary fund that has been made available to local authorities that is aimed at small businesses with on-going fixed property-related costs.
Now there is no mention of working from home costs so as yet we are not aware of any additional allowance for this but there are HMRC allowances for businesses and employees working from home and more information regarding this can be found here.
In terms of this new grant, local authorities are being asked to prioritise businesses in share spaces, regular market traders etc and more guidance can be found here.
To qualify, businesses must be deemed to be small as in have less than 50 employees and be able to demonstrate a significant drop in income due to COVID-19.
There are three levels of grants:
- Grants of £10,000
- Grants of up to £25,000
- Grants of less than £10,000 which will be at the discretion of local authorities
Further guidance for local authorities is set to be forthcoming so contact them directly if you have any further queries.
What is planned for May?
Whilst we must get back on track ourselves as firm in May, our ‘Strike-Back’ strategy continues and we have an exciting line-up of speakers planned for clients that will further help you reinforce and re-engineer your business so that you come back with a bang as you are most likely sick of us by now!
We have our first four speakers lined up so will announce more information later this week.
