UK Government announces the launch of the business support measures and associated website

 The UK Government has just announced the launch of the business support measures and the associated access website:
 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-business-support-to-launch-from-today
 
As part of this they have also launched a dedicated website that collates information on the support available for businesses which you will want to bookmark and send to members. https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/

The main points from the PM’s briefing of the (20/03/20) were:
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• Cafes, pubs and restaurants must close from Friday night, They are, however, allowed to remain open in order to provide take-away food and drink.
• Night clubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres have been asked to close "as soon as they reasonably can".
• The government is setting up a job retention scheme whereby employers can get a grant of 80% of the wages of staff that are not working up to a limit of £2,500 per month
• VAT for all businesses will be deferred until the end of June and businesses will have until the end of the financial year to repay those bills
• The interest-free period of the Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme will be increased from 6 to 12 months.
• Self-employed people will be able to access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees, although we do not think this is adequate and hope the Govt., comes up with something better!