Larger Businesses To Benefit From Loans Of Up To £200 Million Businesses will be able to benefit from larger loans under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), the government announced today.
The maximum loan size available under the scheme will be increased from £50 million to £200 million, to help ensure those large firms which do not qualify for the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) have enough finance to meet cashflow needs during the outbreak.
The expanded loans, which have been introduced following discussions with lenders and business groups, will be available from 26 May.
The restrictions in place will include:
Commenting on the extension of the CLBILS scheme, Dr Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said:
“This is welcome news. The Treasury has continued to listen to the concerns of business and is making sensible changes to business support schemes.
“These vital changes will make a real difference to companies, in particular larger firms.
"Access to finance is a priority for businesses of all sizes and the changes to this scheme, coupled with the other lending support schemes available will make sure that companies get the help they need to see them through this economic crisis.”
First Minister Announces £33m Fund To Support Return To Work The First Minister has announced that the Scottish Government will invest £33m into "getting Scots back to work."
The news comes after the latest Scottish employment figures released today revealed that 113,000 people in Scotland are now unemployed.
The funding – most of which will be allocated to Fair Start Scotland, the devolved employability service - will have a particular focus on helping those most adversely affected in times of economic downturn, targeting young people, disabled people and lone parents.
Advice On How To Claim Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay The Covid-19 Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will launch online on 26 May.
The scheme will enable employers with fewer than 250 employees to claim coronavirus-related Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Tax agents will be able to make claims on behalf of employers.
Employers are eligible to use the scheme if:
The repayment will cover up to two weeks of the applicable rate of SSP, and is payable if a current or former employee was unable to work on or after 13 March 2020 and entitled to SSP, because they either:
To prepare to make a claim, employers should keep records of all the SSP payments they wish to claim for. Further details can be found via the below link.
SCC Evidence Session To Holyrood Economy Committee Yesterday, the Chief Executive of SCC, Liz Cameron, gave evidence by digital means to the Economy Committee at the Scottish Parliament on its ongoing enquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on Scotland’s businesses, workers and the economy.
Ms Cameron appeared alongside the CBI & the FSB on one panel, while the SCDI, STUC & the Fraser of Allander Institute appeared on a 2nd panel.
In these evidence sessions, attendees raised wide-ranging issues impacting on Scottish businesses. Issues raised included:
Papers for the meeting can be downloaded below, with a recording of the evidence session and the official report from the meeting also available.
SCC Virtual Meeting With Scotrail Managing Director, Alex Haynes At tomorrow’s weekly Chamber Chief Executive's meeting, SCC will be joined by Alex Hynes, Managing Director of ScotRail.
Alex will provide attendees with an update on how ScotRail is responding to the current environment and ScotRail’s plans to support the transition to increasing capacity and operations as businesses plan and prepare a return to the workplace.
The meeting will take place on Zoom on Wednesday 20th May at 1pm and there will also be an opportunity for wider discussion and Q&A with Alex.
Please contact SCC's Ros Wardley-Smith if there are any specific questions or topics that you or your members would like to raise during the meeting.
Future Fund For Innovative UK Companies Opens Tomorrow Announced by the Chancellor on 20 April, the Future Fund issues convertible loans to innovative UK companies with good potential, that typically rely on equity investment and are currently affected by Covid-19.
The scheme, will help these companies through the current period of economic disruption and the recovery, so they are able to continue their growth trajectory and reach their full economic potential.
The scheme is designed by government and delivered by the British Business Bank
The Government has made £250 million available for the Future Fund, and will keep this amount under review. The scheme is initially open for applications from 20 May until the end of September 2020.
Coronavirus: Young People 'Most Likely To Lose Work' In Lockdown Young people are most likely to have lost work or seen their income drop because of Covid-19, a report suggests.
More than one in three 18 to 24-year-olds is earning less than before the outbreak, research by the Resolution Foundation claims. It said younger workers risk their pay being affected for years, while older staff may end up involuntarily retired.
Around a quarter have been furloughed - meaning their firms keep them on their books and the government covers 80% of their wages but they are unable to work for that employer.
A further 9% have lost their jobs altogether - the highest figure out of all age groups.
Industries that traditionally employ younger staff such as pubs, restaurants and leisure centres have remained shut throughout the UK's eight-week lockdown, as have many shops.
Cross-Party MPs Support Calls For Tronc To Be Included In Furlough MPs from across political parties have supported calls for tronc, service charge and tips to be included in furlough pay and agreed to lobby chancellor Rishi Sunak to adapt the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
In total 26 MPs from across the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties have given their support following reports that the exclusion is causing "real and serious hardship", having impacted some 750,000 hospitality employees.
Hospitality leaders have praised the CJRS, but argued that the decision to exclude what it has called "discretionary payments" is based on a mistaken understanding of how tronc systems operate.
Phase 4 Economic Recovery Tracker On Covid-19 Embargo for 00:01 Wednesday 20th May 2020
The findings of this Recovery Tracker will support the Chamber Network’s representations to both the Scottish and UK Government's to shape the business and economic recovery plans.
Fieldwork for the Covid-19 recovery tracker closed on Friday with the results to be published tomorrow.
All Chambers have received an advance copy of the press release in advance of publication tomorrow. This will include infographics for Chamber trackers that gathered at least 20 or more responses.
A total of 444 responses was reached from across the Network, many thanks to all contributing Chambers.
Q2 2020 QEI Now Live The Q2 2020 Quarterly Economic Indicator survey fieldwork launched yesterday and will finish on Monday 8th June.
Communication materials and the survey link have been shared with Chambers and we hope that you can these use to promote it among your board, members and partners.
The data for this QEI will be the first major source for comparison with pre Covid-19 data.
Alongside SCC's collaboration with the British Chambers of Commerce, the overall results will indicate the seismic shift from pre Covid-19 business conditions to the present and give a clearer picture of the situation facing businesses across the UK.
RECAP: DAILY UPDATES
SCC SUPPORT HUB
The SCC Business Support Hub The Business Support Hub on the SCC website has been created to enable businesses to find useful information quickly.
The Hub is updated daily and includes information on business support, access to finance, contact numbers, public information and travel advice.
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