We are supporting our business customers in a number of ways. To begin with, please get in touch with your Relationship Manager. Or, you can call our specialist business team on 0345 08 08 508 between 8am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.
We’re getting a huge amount of interest in our Business Bank Account at the moment. To make sure our services keep running smoothly, and so we can meet our commitments to our existing customers, we’ve temporarily stopped taking any new applications online or in store. We’re planning to start accepting applications again early next year.
If you applied online before 8am on Friday 9 October, or you already have an appointment booked in store to make an application, you can carry on as normal.
We’ve put together a short eligibility questionnaire:
If you can answer “yes” to all of the following questions, you may be eligible for CBILS. All decisions are subject to credit decision:
If you have answered “yes” to all questions, but “no” to question 8:
*Personal guarantees, at a max limit of 20% of the initial loan amount, may still be required. Recoveries under these are capped at a maximum of 20% of the outstanding balance of the CBILS facility after the proceeds of business assets have been applied. A Principal Private Residence (PPR) cannot be taken as security to support a personal guarantee or as security for a CBIL backed facility.
• businesses that have accumulated losses greater than half of their subscribed share capital (for limited liability companies) or capital (for unlimited liability companies), or
• businesses that entered into collective insolvency proceedings or fulfilled the criteria to be put into collective insolvency proceedings, or
• businesses that have previously received rescue aid that was yet to be reimbursed or restructuring aid and were still under a restructuring plan, or
• In the case of an undertaking that is not an SME, where, for the past two years;
1) the undertaking’s book debt to equity ratio has been greater than 7.5 and
2) the undertaking’s EBITDA interest cover ratio has been below 1.0.
• From 25 September 2020, the “Undertaking in Difficulty” test applies at the date the Applicant applies for a CBILS Facility. If an Undertaking is an “Undertaking in Difficulty” at this date of application, but was not an “Undertaking in Difficulty” as at 31 December 2019, it will (in principle) be eligible for a CBILS Facility.
• An applicant who was previously an “Undertaking in Difficulty” when it applied for a CBILS Facility, is free to reapply under this new guidance.
• Micro and Small Enterprises will not be considered undertakings in difficulty unless they are (a) subject to collective insolvency procedure under national law, or (b) in receipt of rescue aid (which has not been repaid) or restructuring aid (and are still subject to a restructuring plan).
• Micro and Small Enterprises have:
a) Fewer than 50 employees And
b) Less than £9 million of annual turnover OR Less than £9 million annual balance sheet total
Rate relief
Small Business Rate Relief is available for properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or less – you can check the rateable value of your property at uk/correct-your-business-rates. If you qualify, you may also be eligible for a £25,000 cash grant via your local authority.
Additional relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses has been extended to provide 100% business rate relief, with no rateable value limit, for 12 months.
Ratepayers experiencing financial difficulties may apply for hardship relief from their local authority, who have the power to grant a discount or exemption at their discretion.
To get started, contact your council to claim these reliefs. A full list of reliefs can be found at gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief.
Commercial loans
Businesses facing financial difficulties because of the coronavirus will be supported with at least a three-month mortgage payment holiday. You’ll need to get in touch with your Relationship Manager to discuss this directly.
HMRC Time to Pay Arrangements
To talk to HMRC about delaying your VAT and PAYE payment deadlines, call their dedicated phone line on 0800 0159 559.
Statutory Sick Pay and Annual Leave
Companies with fewer than 250 employees on 28 Feb 2020 will be able to reclaim two weeks’ worth of statutory sick pay relating to coronavirus.
Statutory Sick Pay payments to be introduced from the first day of sickness. This will apply retrospectively from 13 March 2020, and cover staff who are either unwell or have been told to self-isolate.
The current government advice is to allow working from home if possible, but not to close the business. Your employees will therefore either be sick and on SSP or be on full pay (subject to any potential short working contract conditions) either at the business premises or at home.
Employers can force staff to take holiday and pay holiday pay during periods of closure but must give staff twice as much notice as the closure period. Eg ten days’ notice for a five-day closure.
The employment allowance has been increased from £3,000 to £4,000 and from next month companies will not have to pay employers national insurance contributions on the first £4,000 of their annual bill. (conditions apply Class 1 for prior year < £100K, IR35, sole director etc)
To read the government’s guidance in full, go to
gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-coronavirus-covid-19
To read the current advice from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), go to acas.org.uk/coronavirus. For specific ACAS guidance on short-time working and lay-offs, visit acas.org.uk/lay-offs-and-short-time-working.
Business Interruption Insurance
Most business interruption policies have a list of diseases covered and, as a new virus, the coronavirus is not listed – contact your insurer/broker and read your policies. To read the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) statement on business insurance and coronavirus, go to org.uk/news/news-articles/2020/03/statement-on-business-insurance-and-coronavirus.Our SME/business customers and their employees are top priorities and, following the escalation of measures taken by the UK Government on Friday, 20th March, including the enforced closure of pubs, clubs and restaurants across the UK, and the increased pressures being seen by SME businesses across all sectors, we will take whatever steps we can to support you during this time.
Other means of support for SMEs at this difficult time include a specific helpline set up by HMRC, details of which and other help available from this source, can be found via the link below. We strongly recommend you look at these websites as an early step.
Similarly, the British Business Bank and the UK Government continue to develop wider financial means of support for SMEs in difficulty, and these can be found via this link:
Naturally, we also encourage you to get in touch with your relationship manager.
Other means of support for SMEs at this difficult time include a specific helpline set up by HMRC, details of which and other help available from this source, can be found via the link below. We strongly recommend you look at these websites as an early step.
Similarly, the British Business Bank and the UK Government continue to develop wider financial means of support for SMEs in difficulty, and these can be found via this link:
Naturally, we also encourage you to get in touch with your relationship manager.
We suggest that you follow the UK Government’s advice around social distancing, so it’s probably better to call your Local Director, rather than meet face to face.
Our focus is on supporting our existing customers, so if any of your employees need support they should check through our FAQs for ways we can help.
Managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. British Business Bank plc is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or the FCA. Visit british-business-bank.co.uk.