Covid-19

British banks must keep lending to businesses through the coronavirus crisis to ensure viable companies do not fail, the government and financial regulators have urged. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, and Chris Woolard, acting CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority have written to the CEOs of UK banks updating them on the COVID-19 situation and requesting they support the economy. The letter said: ‘This will require a willingness to maintain and extend…

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause major disruption to businesses, and the UK moves into lockdown, the government has responded with measures to mitigate damage to the economy. This is a fast-moving area and UK Government is publishing details of further measures. Below we set out a summary of the salary support and tax deferral schemes that were announced on 20 March 2020. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is available to all UK employers…

The government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme went live for applications from today (23 March). In the Budget, the Chancellor announced the implementation of the scheme, which will support the continued provision of finance to UK small and medium-sized (SME) businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak. Delivered by the British Business Bank, the scheme will temporarily replace the Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, with an additional £1 billion made available on top of existing support supplied via the programme. The government…

The UK economy is facing its worst recession in modern history after the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused a ‘sharp slowdown’, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey from data provider IHS Markit. The survey shows that UK business activity has fallen at a faster rate than at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. The decrease between February and March is the sharpest recorded by the survey since it began in 1998. The headline figure recorded by the…