Published: Apr 21, 2020
Focus:
Insights
The outbreak of COVID-19 has been one of the biggest disruptions to businesses and daily life in living memory. During this time, it is important to get clear and accurate information and know where you can seek support. Below is a summary of the latest advice and supporting information that is available to business owners in the UK.
Central Hub of Information
Information and advice from the UK government has been quite extensive. They have established a central hub of information for businesses. This is a great place to start, as it is constantly updated with relevant information and measures that are being advised as the situation continues to change.
https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-advice/
Business Support Campaign Toolkit
As a business owner, communicating with your staff and keeping them informed can be challenging, especially with the social distancing measures in place. To assist the UK government have created a “Business Support Campaign” toolkit with created rich and written content to assist you with communicating to all stakeholders in your business
https://industrialstrategy.frontify.com/d/55EzeVU6rhza/covid-19-business-support
Business Continuity Management Plan
Weathering the slump in trade and remaining afloat can be one of the most challenging aspects on every business owners’ mind. Resilience to these stresses can be mitigated by a strong Business Continuity Management (BCM) plan. The Government has developed another tool kit to assist in creating your own plan and manage the interruption the lockdown measures have had on your business. As a key part of that plan, understanding your insurance coverage when business operations are interrupted is crucial in formulating a complete plan. Contact to your broker or insurer to determine if you are covered under your current policy and what assistance is available to your business.
Cashflow Management Advice
Coupled with having a good BCM plan in place and reducing as many variable costs you can during this time to aid your cashflow, there are constant fixed overheads that need to be covered. In most business, one of the largest is commercial rent. If it does become hard to make rent payments as a direct result of COVID-19, approaching your landlord directly about the situation to voluntarily reach a mutual agreement is the easiest way to proceed. However, this does not always work, and requires further action. To support this the government has announced it is working on legislation to go through parliament that no business will be evicted if they miss a rental payment for the next 3 months. It is important to note that the business will still be liable for the rent after this period.
Business Representative Organisations and Trade Associations
Along with governmental resources, there is also a wealth of support from Business Representative Organisations and Trade Associations. These organisations are working with the government to assist in a coordinated response to support businesses. Many of these organisations provide sector specific guidance and resources available to you. Below are links to different industry group websites;
https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/support-for-businesses-from-outside-of-government/
https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/other-support-from-outside-of-government/
