9 July 2020
With the UK still amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the extent of its impact still not yet known for business owners and employees, Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday set out a number of new schemes and financial incentives to help businesses to bring furloughed staff back to work and to encourage customers to return to their local shops and restaurants again.
We have outlined the main announcements for business owners to be aware of from yesterday’s speech and the support that you and your business may now be able to access.
Jobs and wages
- VAT will be cut from 20% to 5% for the next six months in the hospitality sector on food, accommodation and attractions. This cut to VAT will run from Wednesday 8th July until 12th January 2021. This cut to VAT will benefit more than 150,000 businesses and consumers
- Jobs Retention Bonus – The government will reward and incentivise employers who successfully bring furloughed staff back to work with a bonus of £1,000 paid per employee to businesses
- The Kickstart Scheme – Aimed at helping young people enter the jobs market, the government will pay the wages of new employees aged 16-24 for six months. The government also announced that there will be no cap on the number of employees they will pay the wages for
- Increase to job centre work coaches – To help more people back into work the number of career advisers will be doubled
- Apprenticeships – From August 2020 to January 2021 the government will pay companies £2,000 for each apprentice they taken on between the age of 16-24, companies taking on apprentices over the age of 25 will be given £1,500
Green investment
- The government has announced that it will provide £3bn for decarbonising housing and public buildings
- A £2bn Green Homes Grant - made available to retrofit homes with insulation with vouchers worth £5,000 and up to £10,000 for poorer families
- An additional £1bn will be allocated to make public buildings greener
Discounts on eating out
- The government has launched an “eat out to help out discount” to encourage consumers to spend at pubs, restaurants and cafes. Meals eaten at participating businesses from Monday to Wednesday in August
- The discount is equivalent to 50% off up to a maximum discount of £10 per head for everyone, including children
- Businesses will be able to register to the scheme as of Monday (13th July) and will receive the money they claim back in their bank accounts within five working days
More details on the government’s plans that the Chancellor announced yesterday can be found at Gov.uk
