The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is fast-tracking new measures that will force banks to freeze loans and credit card payments for up to three months to help those individuals whose finances are affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. The measures should be in force by 9 April 2020 and will include...

The Government has announced significant revisions to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) that come into effect from Monday 6 April 2020, opening up the scheme to a wider range of businesses. The Scheme provides UK-based SMEs with turnovers of up to £45 million access to facilities of between £1,000 and...

The Government has issued fresh warnings to members of the public and businesses about the potential for fraud related to the Coronavirus pandemic. Local authorities, police forces and specialist fraud organisations across the UK are issuing guidance to companies and individuals following a 400 per cent increase in fraud in recent weeks.

The Government has published new guidance for local authorities on the small business and retail sector grant schemes. These are one of several measures introduced by the Government to help businesses that are most at risk of failure due to the actions taken to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. As previously discussed in our...

The Government has confirmed in its guidance for the operation of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) that employers will not be at risk of breaching minimum wage rules where they opt not to top-up the wages of furloughed employees. The CJRS was announced by the Chancellor shortly before the Stay at Home rules came into effect...

Thousands of employees who have started a new job after the 28 February 2020 will not be able to benefit from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and may need to be laid off or sacked to help businesses cut costs. To be eligible for the scheme, which covers 80 per cent of a furlough workers employment costs up to £2,500 per...