The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released a new report which has revealed the number of people in the UK who are now unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has risen to 649,000. The data is from March to June, and with further job cuts being announced every day in a wide range of sectors – most significantly, across the retail industry the effects of COVID-19 are being felt in the job market. As a result, the number of people claiming work-related benefits rose to more than 2.6 million in the same time period. With many businesses…
Author: sme-admin
With businesses across the country now being being encouraged to reopen workplaces to employees who cannot work from home, HR will be required to manage the needs of employees with particular circumstances that make it difficult or impossible for them to return to work, such as health concerns, childcare or transport issues. Applying a blanket approach to all employees will not be appropriate, and a return to work challenge for HR managers will need to be addressed and reassure a possible anxious workforce of the new “norm”. To top it all off, HR Managers will be expected to forecast and…
While the UK Government has stated that those who can work from home should continue to do so for as long as possible, it has also reinforced the message that if people are unable to work from home, they should be encouraged to go to work – provided they can follow the now familiar health and social distancing guidelines which have been drummed into us all from March. It is time to plan for when things start returning back to normal – whatever normal will be. Returning to work after Covid-19 will be different and will take some adapting to…
The Government announced today that it is to relax planning legislation to make it easier to construct large batteries to store renewable energy from solar and wind farms across the UK. Removing barriers for energy storage projects, which are discouraging bolder investment decisions in larger battery facilities, could treble the number of batteries serving the electricity grid. It will help bring about storage cells that are 5 times bigger than those currently available. The UK has the largest installed capacity of offshore wind farms in the world, however, because the availability and speed of the wind is not constant, energy…
336,000 properties in England better protected from flooding by 2027 with £5.2 billion investment. Homes and businesses across England will be better protected and more resilient in future after the government revealed its long-term plan to tackle the risks of flooding and coastal erosion. The measures set out in the new plan are the most comprehensive in a decade, including investment of £5.2 billion to create around 2,000 new flood and coastal defences to better protect 336,000 properties in England by 2027, alongside support to help households and businesses get back on their feet more quickly after flooding. The plans also include…
Restaurants and other establishments serving food for on-premises consumption can now sign up to a new government initiative aimed at protecting jobs in the hospitality industry and encouraging people to safely return to dining out. The Eat Out to Help Out registration service went live this morning on GOV.UK, allowing businesses to join the scheme announced last week by Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Find out how to register for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme. Restaurants, bars, cafes and other establishments who use the scheme will offer a 50% reduction, up to a maximum of £10 per person,…
Great British Expos, UK’s largest regional business shows organiser, brought together some of the UK’s Biggest Entrepreneurs digitally in an exciting new virtual conference format- SME Today Expo. The event which took place on 30th June 2020, was aimed at helping SMEs, Micro Businesses, Sole Traders and Business owners in these difficult times and created a day packed with insight, inspiration education and innovation, delivered via online sessions. Over 700 people pre-registered and between 75 – 130 people were in attendance on most of the sessions. The twelve sessions which formed the digital event covered key topics relevant to businesses…
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak today set out a ‘Plan for Jobs’ that will spur the UK’s recovery from the Coronavirus outbreak. The Chancellor announced a package of measures to support jobs and give businesses the confidence to hopefully retain, hire and provide people with the tools they need to get better jobs. The plan for jobs is the second part of a three-phase plan to secure the UK’s economic recovery from coronavirus. The first stage was a £160 billion support package, which included £49 billion of extra funding for the country’s vital public services including the NHS, paying the wages…
Supporting jobs As part of the plan to support jobs, a Job Retention Bonus will be introduced to help firms keep furloughed workers. UK Employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed as of 31 January 2021. A new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme will also be launched to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country. Those aged 16-24, claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment, will be eligible. Funding available for each six-month job placement will cover 100% of the National Minimum…
The sudden arrival of COVID-19 has changed the world we live in and SMEs have had to deal with unprecedented problems such as having to shut up shop with virtually all income disappearing overnight. As someone with four decades of experience of running businesses, or helping them to invest and grow, I keep getting asked about the impact the Covid-19 crisis is going to have on UK SMEs. In the short term the Government has stepped in to support businesses with a range of support measures such as the Coronavirus Interruption Business Loan Scheme (CIBLS) and the Bounce Bank Loan…