Rishi Sunak has today extended the scheme until the end of April at the current rate of 80% of wages not worked (upto a limit of £2,500 per month) which will be a welcome boost for a huge section of UK still struggling, especially those in the hospitality, retail and arts/culture sectors, who will hopefully be able to plan a route back to trading in the new year with the support of this scheme.  The conditions of eligibility for the scheme will remain unchanged. I hope you all have a relaxing break over the festive period, and here's to a positive start to 2021, all the best!

As much as I say it's fast becoming my specialist subject, that's certainly not been through choice, but on a serious note, it is worrying to hear how many people are unlikely to repay their Bounceback Loans, and I think it needs to be said that 'Government backed', does not mean 'without consequence', do your research!

Another update on the current funding. The 3rd Self Employment grant went live for claiming, so login to your personal tax account to lodge your claim for this as soon as possible. There has been a a local Grant released for West Dunbartonshire town centre based businesses, see the information below, and check your local authority website for region relevant funding in your area.

As promised, why it's not going to be as easy as it seems to walk away from your Company just after filling in an online form at Companies House....especially if you've taken out a Bounceback Loan recently!

After this afternoons update from the Chancellor, there are a number of things changing in relation to the schemes that we have told you about over the last couple of weeks/months. I have outlined the main changes below. If you have any questions about the revised situation please get in touch.

An update on the information released over the last few days on the furlough scheme extension and SEISS grant. And some other key information on preparing for the upcoming self assessment deadline and the December payroll run. Get in touch if you have any questions.

There are further updates to the implementation of the Job Support Scheme from 1st November, I know, it's hard to keep up, I have summarised the information released at the end of last week and show a few examples of how this is likely to work in practice. Remember that from the 1st November, you must be paying any previously furloughed employees a minimum of £520 per month (which can include Job Support Scheme Payments), until the end of January to be able to claim the bonus payment in February. As always, please get in touch if you have any questions.

This update is to summarise the end of the Furlough scheme at the end of this month, and the start of the new Job Support Scheme on the 1st November. After Friday's announcement it is clear the hospitality trade have a tough fight ahead to recover from what is likely to be a fatal blow for many, there is some guidance on businesses affected by the latest restrictions specifically, and I have outlined this below. When the pubs, restaurants, entertainment venues, etc, do open back up, please give them your business where you can, the business owners with the fight to keep going throughout all of this, really deserve our custom, loyalty and support. 

I hope you are all keeping busy, and not being affected too much by the heightened restrictions of late.  We are still working from the office, as most of you will know we have a lot of space at our disposal and it is easy for us to respect all social distancing guidelines at our current staffing levels.  We will obviously review things as we go, and thank all clients for their understanding on us not hosting face to face appointments at the moment. The Chancellor released the Winter Economy Plan yesterday, which brings in further support for employees, self employed individuals, VAT registered businesses and anyone in receipt of a Bounceback Loan.  I am going to summarise the main points below.  If you don't already, please follow us on Instagram, where I often give live updates on the information as it is released. @B_able_ltd

You may have already seen the update on Friday, but I thought I would summarise the main points, and hopefully this can give you all some foundation to base any decisions on for the immediate future.  Many of our clients return to some form of trading this week, and others now have some idea of how the route back to trading looks for them over the coming weeks and months.  Whatever this looks like for you, we hope that things can return to some level of normality for us all as quickly as possible, and businesses are back to full strength soon.  If you need any assistance with planning for the road ahead, please get in touch.