Call us on 01792 466 428
Book a FREE Consulation

GUIDANCE FOR OUR CLIENTS – CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) UPDATE 4

We have now received updated information from Business Wales and HMRC in relation to both the Welsh Economic Resilience Fund and the Job Retention Scheme reclaim that we would like to bring to our clients attention.

The Economic Resilience Fund is £500m of funding from the Welsh Government in the form of loans and grant. The £100m loan scheme (administered by Development Bank of Wales) which we highlighted on our 26th March 2020 update e-mail is now fully subscribed. The two grant funds will open to applications here on the 17th April 2020. We strongly advise clients to apply for the relevant grant as soon as possible (from the 17th April) as we expect demand to be high and the pots are limited to £400m. An Eligibility Checker Toolis available on the Business Wales website to check if your business is eligible. Alternatively, below are the eligibility criteria for the two grants:

Microbusinesses Grant (£100m fund):

This is a grant of up to £10,000 to assist microbusinesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. This grant can only be claimed by businesses that meet the following criteria:
• Not able to claim the Business Rate Grant
• Not able to claim the Self-Employed Grant
• No other non-repayable grant funding is being pursued from the Welsh Government
• Employing between 1 and 9 employees (in addition to the business owner)
• Operating address is in Wales and have employees in Wales
• VAT registered or exempt from VAT
• A sustainable plan exists to trade beyond the COVID-19 pandemic
• Have experienced a drop in turnover greater than >40% as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak (since the 1st March 2020)
• Supported businesses must aim to maintain employment for 12 months
• Only one application per business
• Businesses will need to provide.
o details of reduction in turnover as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak
o evidence of business address e.g. providing VAT registration
The following details will be needed for the online application form:
• VAT Registration Number
• Company Registration Number: (if applicable)
• The Sector the business works in
• Number of Employees (Full Time)
• Annual turnover
• Bank account details – Bank, Sort code and Account number
• Which COVID-19 support funds you have applied for or have been accepted for.

Small/Medium/Large Businesses Grant (£300m fund):

This is a grant of up to £100,000 to assist small, medium and large businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. This grant can only be claimed by businesses that meet the following criteria:
• Have more than 9 employees but less than 250 employees
• Confirmation is provided that funding from any other Welsh Government non-repayable grant funding source is not being pursued;
• In excess of a 60% reduction in turnover since 1st March 2020 has been experienced;
• Not eligible for business rate relief, or if it is, the amount would be deducted from the allocation from this fund;
• Operating address is in Wales and have employees in Wales.
• A sustainable plan exists to trade beyond the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Inability to access funding needed from a bank (including DBW and the British Business Bank) is demonstrated; and
• Confirm no future compulsory redundancies will be made as long as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is in place.

We have yet to be provided details of the information required for the online application form.

Job Retention Scheme

HMRC have announced that the 20th April 2020 will be the launch date for the Job Retention Scheme reclaims. The reclaim will be via an online HMRC portal on a self-serve basis – HMRC are already expecting phone demand to be beyond their capacity during this period.

To make the claim you will need to enter the information below on the online portal (we can assist you in making the claims or process the claims if we provide your payroll function):
• Your employer PAYE reference number
• The number of employees being furloughed
• National Insurance Numbers for the employees you want to furlough
• Names of the employees you want to furlough
• Payroll/works number for the employees you want to furlough
• Your Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference or Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference or Company Registration Number
• The claim period (start and end date)
• amount claimed (per the minimum length of furloughing of 3 consecutive weeks)
• Your bank account number and sort code
• Your contact name
• Your phone number

We will continue to communicate updates as and when they become available to us

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss the above or how COVID-19 is affecting your business generally.