Budget

Sunak to extend furlough scheme until September

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to extend the furlough scheme until September as part of his March Budget which will be announced today (3 March). According to The Times, Sunak will state that the country is in a “moment of crisis” as he extends furlough for another five months, taking the support beyond the…

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Chancellor to unveil £5bn high-street support package

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to offer over 700,000 retail, hospitality and other businesses grants of up to £18,000 as part of a £5bn rescue package to be included in his Budget speech on Wednesday (3 March). The new ‘Restart Grants’ will be directly distributed from local authorities from April…

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Sunak to delay review of business rates until autumn

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to reveal that he will delay a final report on the review of business rates until later this year.  According to The Financial Times, the delay of the report, which was set to consider the introduction of an online sales tax, comes as the chancellor…

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29% of small retail businesses fear collapse in next three months, study finds

29% of small businesses in the retail sector fear contraction or collapse in the next three months as the coronavirus continues to disrupt business, a study by Hitachi Capital Business Finance reveals.  The company which has been tracking small business outlooks across the UK for 26 consecutive quarters found only…

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Chancellor unveils £4.6bn in new lockdown grants

Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000, the chancellor has announced. The news comes after the prime minister’s announcement that businesses will be closed until at least February half-term in order to help control the spread of Covid-19. This…

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Furlough scheme extended until April 2021

The furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021 with the government continuing to contribute 80% towards wages to employee’s pay, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed today (17 December).  The government will also extend current government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes until the end of March.  This includes…

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Chancellor set to unveil furlough replacement after Budget cancellation

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has cancelled this year’s Budget but is set to unveil new measures aimed at protecting employment and the UK economy in parliament later today (24 September). It is thought the new measures will replace the current furlough scheme, which is set to expire at the end of…

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Chancellor mulls VAT cut and could follow up with autumn tax rises

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering cutting VAT in order to help stimulate the economy but could follow the move up with a set of Autumn tax rises.  According to the Financial Times, Sunak is planning deferred tax rises and cuts to public spending in his autumn Budget as a follow up to further stimulus…

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Chancellor extends furlough scheme until October

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has extended the Government’s furlough scheme until the end of October. Announcing the decision in the house of commons today (12 May) Sunak revealed that “no changes whatsoever” will be made to the current scheme until the end of July.  However he noted that…

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Government extends lockdown for ‘at least’ three more weeks

The government has announced an extension to the coronavirus lockdown for “at least” a further three weeks. The decision was announced at today’s (16 April) press briefing which was led by foreign secretary Dominic Raab. It also comes after Raab led an emergency Cobra committee and cabinet meetings about the…

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