As the pace and impact of the COVID-19 virus accelerates, so does the level of government intervention.
The Chancellor has announced a three month mortgage holiday for home-owners, offered government backed credit, tax breaks & grants and promised industry bailouts.
Specifically, announcements impacting businesses included:
- £330bn of government guarantees for businesses by the extension of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) from £1.2m to £5m per business. The details are expected to be confirmed shortly, however, features include a guarantee from government to the issuing banks (although the borrower will continue to be liable) which is expected to guarantee up to 80/90% of the facility and no interest in the first six months.
- There will also be support and provisions for larger corporates.
- A Business Rates Holiday of one year from 1st April 2020, covering retail, hospitality and leisure businesses – the scope of this is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
- Cash Grants of up to £25,000 will also be available from Local Authorities for smaller businesses operating in retail, hospitality and leisure.
- In addition, there are various support initiatives at a regional level.
We will continually update when details become confirmed, in the meantime, we remain in active dialogue with all banks, alternative providers of finance, the British Business Bank and the CBI, amongst others.
To access the support there will be processes to follow, criteria to be met and your own business risk profile to be understood, but we will be working closely with clients to navigate these challenging times.
Gambit Corporate Finance has a dedicated debt advisory team. We would be happy to speak with any companies that have concerns and wish to understand the options available to them.
Jason Evans, Partner of Gambit Corporate Finance LLP and leads the Debt Advisory Team.
