Pet shops can be open for business but the priority should always be to keep you, your staff and your customers safe within the Government advice on social distancing.

The Business Support website from the Government looks like the best source of information about the financial support being put in place. Some parts are for England only and you can find links at the top of the page to advice for other parts of the UK. This page also has a summary of the financial support available to business.

Here is information about the Job Support Scheme and the Self Employed Support announced by the Government in September 2020.

Here is information on the Coronavirus Future Fund which will offer convertible loans between £125,000 to £5 million to innovative companies which are facing financing difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak.

It has information on the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme – which is UK wide. This is where you furlough workers and HMRC will arrange payment schemes to reimburse 80% of wages.
 
 
It also has information (for England) about Small Business Grant Funding (more info here as well) which is administered by local authorities. So it might be worth looking at your local authority’s website as well to see if they have further information about this.
 
It also has information on Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme which is designed to support SMEs with access to working capital (including loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance) of up to £5 million in value and for up to 6 years. More information here as well.
 
This page, broken down into sections, again explains the overall financial support being given by Government.
 
The advice coming from Government is continuing to change so make sure you check these links regularly to see the latest information.
 
We’ve also found this useful free tool from Sage which helps businesses work out which schemes would be open to them. Try it here.
 
Personal finances
This information from the Consumer Council may also be useful to you or your staff. It covers sick pay, mortgage payments, benefits and what banks to doing to support their customers.
 
 

Other organisations

It might also be worth checking with your local chamber of commerce – we’ve seen examples where they are offering free webinars or information to help businesses manage cashflow or other useful information to help you plan to keep your business going over this uncertain period. Find your local chamber here.