This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ across tiers 2 and 3 in lieu of Christmas trade.
Also, Britain’s Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the UK hopes for millions of Pfizer vaccine doses by the end of the year.
Here is a brief look at the news you need to know:
Pubs that mainly serve alcohol rather than provide food are eligible for £1000 grants to help make ends meet. The support will be available in all Tier 2 and 3 areas.
The payment will be a one-off for December and will be paid on top of the existing £3,000 monthly cash grants for businesses. This will cover those forced to reduce their operations because of the most recent regional measures put in place to contain transmission of the virus.
The move reinforces the government’s support for the pub’s sector, following the extension of the furlough scheme and the business rates holiday which were extended until March 2021.
“Pubs are at the heart of communities across the country and they have been among the businesses which have suffered the most during the pandemic.”
“While we can’t make up for all the trade they will lose over Christmas, I hope this new £1000 grant – on top of the furlough, VAT and, business rates relief and, existing grants, goes some way to help them weather the economic storm.”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
In Tiers 2 and 3, wet-led pubs will be subject to significant measures under the new regional tiered system and it is right for the government to increase its support. Eligible wet-led pubs are invited to apply through their local authority who will be responsible for distributing the grants. The payment will be made once per business for the month of December only.
The additional support comes on top of £1.1 billion which is being given to local authorities, distributed on the basis of £20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly. The government has also provided £10 billion business rates holiday for hospitality, retail and, leisure businesses lasting until March, as well as £11.7 billion of initial grants of up to £25,000 at the start of the outbreak.
For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-announces-1000-christmas-grant-for-wet-led-pubs
Small Business Saturday is back on December 5 and it seems consumers are shopping small this year.
The global pandemic has accelerated changes in the way businesses are communicating with their customers, with over three-quarters of SMEs have introduced new ways of communicating and reinvent themselves in 2020.
The grassroots campaign encourages people to go out and support all types of small businesses.
Small Business Saturday organizers have matched businesses with mentors and provided virtual workshops, tools to help handle the pandemic, managing cash flow, improving the entrepreneur mindset, and mental health.
At Cubefunder we understand what it’s like to own and run a small to medium-sized business that is why we provide small business loans that can help to support you through challenging times.
We encourage everyone to support small businesses and shop local in the run-up of the festive season.
As of 2 December, most businesses and venues were allowed to open, following COVID-19 Secure guidelines. However, there are certain businesses and venues through England that are required to follow restrictions.
Businesses subject to restrictions or closure:
Businesses that are closed – What can be done?
Any closed premises can open for the purposes of:
Business Support
Regarding business support, businesses that are forced to close due will receive up to £1,500 per 2-week closure period, depending on their rateable value. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until the end of March 2021 and is available for all eligible firms across the UK. You can learn more here.
Businesses and venues are expected to follow the appropriate COVID-19 Secure guidance for their sector.
For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/closing-certain-businesses-and-venues-in-england
The UK has become the first country to approve the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine this Wednesday.
Britain is hoping to receive millions of doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year. However, the total will depend on how quickly it can be manufactured, Britain’s Business Minister Alok Sharma said on Friday.
40 million doses have been previously secured, enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
The Business Minister said he was confident the first batch of 8000,000 doses would be in place to being roll-out next week.
“We are starting initially with 800,000 and then let’s see where we end up by the end of the year in terms of the numbers that we acquire. That will depend on the manufacturing,” Sharma said.
“I hope we will have some millions by the end of this year but of course what we also always said is that the vast majority of this vaccination program will take place in the new year.”
The first people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be high-risk groups such as residents and care home staff.
Priority list for the first phase:
Two groups will not receive the vaccine:
