Landlords blocked from evicting small businesses for another three months

With COVID still impacting many businesses, the Government has again blocked commercial landlords from evicting small businesses for another three months until June 30th.

With the first push back introduced a year ago this month, it has been pushed back three times since.

The Government are trying to do whatever they can to keep small businesses afloat in these tough times.

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Self-employed to be offered fourth, and final, £7,500 grant

Self-employed grants of up to £7,500 will be available from next month for three months, including an expansion in the scheme to allow those who started working for themselves in the 2019-20 financial year to make claims, and a fourth and final grant in July.

Announced in the Budget, this is a welcome extension of the self-employed scheme as many of the newly self-employed, who were excluded in the previous rounds, will be brought in.

To recognise that the scheme may be being used by people who have not seen a downturn in their business future grants will be reduced where recipients haven’t demonstrated a downturn in business.

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All businesses can now get free rapid Covid tests for workplaces to get staff back

With lockdown restrictions easing, and everyone on the path back to normality, businesses are urged to sign up to receive free rapid lateral flow Covid tests to curb the spread.

Tests will be available for all employees and will provide a result within 30 minutes allowing transmission of the virus to be broken as soon as possible.

All businesses are being encouraged to participate and must register their interest before 31st March. More than 3,500 business are signed up to the testing program already.

To register your business, click here.

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Mounting debts spark concerns for SMEs as lending tops £100bn

With the pandemic continuing and many businesses struggling, lending has topped an all-time high.

Reports suggest that “The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called for Government-backed loans to be adapted so that companies only start to pay back the amounts owed when they are profitable again.”

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