Together with other members of the UK200Group, we have been asking our clients to contribute data to a nationwide survey about how their businesses were faring before the lockdown and what has happened since.
Alarmingly, this research shows that 528,373* people in the East of England are at risk of unemployment. This is a stark and worrying number, but this is the reality of what the UK may be facing.
Therefore, we have written to the Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, to highlight the 3 key areas of concern for SMEs that the research has identified:
- Access to bank funding to preserve their business
- Help rebuilding their business once the pandemic eases
- More support for the self-employed to tide them over
In our letter, we have called on the government to prioritise support for SMEs and in particular, we have highlighted the following measures that will help address SMEs current challenges:
- Removing some of the administrative hurdles of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
- Continued support for furloughed employees, rather than a hard end to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- Refining the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to ensure it is well targeted
Stay Focused > Protect the Economy > Save Jobs.
We are committed to doing our bit to support our clients by raising issues with the government on SMEs behalf and by collaborating with the government and others to achieve these goals.
Read the UK200Group Survey results in full >>
*About the survey and data:
The survey was conducted in the first 3 weeks of April 2020. 1,793 SME businesses from across the UK participated in the survey. The extrapolation of data to work out the potential number of people at risk of unemployment was achieved by applying the survey data results to the Gov.uk. National Statistics – Business population estimates for the UK and regions: 2019 statistical release data.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the Author and other professionals may express different views. They may not be the views of Lambert Chapman LLP. The material in the article cannot and should not be considered as exhaustive. Professional advice should be sought in connection with any of the issues contained in the article and the implementation of any actions.