Update 11:00 AM Tuesday 5th January 2021 following the announcement of a national lockdown in England.
We will update this web page on an ongoing basis to link to the latest government advice for businesses relating to Coronavirus (COVID-19), as well as relevant announcements and resources of relevance to the publishing industry.
Please check back regularly for the latest information. Please note the government’s full Winter Economy Plan can be found here.
For the latest information and advice, employers and business owners should visit COVID-19: guidance for employees, employers and businesses. Businesses should check for daily updates and subscribe to receive GOV.UK email alerts to ensure they are acting on the most up to date information.
Please expand the headings below for detailed information on the various guidance and economic support available, as well as relevant updates from various departments.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has laid out a series of economic measures to support businesses and individuals through the COVID-19 crisis. These are outlined below and are being regularly updated:
There are two types of loans available:
For large companies, The Bank of England will buy short-term debt from larger companies, allowing companies to support their short-term liabilities as part of their Covid Corporate Financing Facility. This scheme will remain open until March 2021.
The government has extended its Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) to remain open until 30 November 2020. All firms with a turnover of more than £45 million will now be able to apply for up to £25 million of finance and firms with a turnover of more than £250 million will be able to apply for up to £50 million. Loans backed by a guarantee under CLBILS will be offered at commercial rates of interests.
For SMEs, the Business Interruption Loan Scheme will now offer loans of up to £5m with no interest due for the first 12 months.
Small businesses are also eligible for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for loans of up to a maximum of £50,000 or 25% of turnover, with the government paying the interest for the first 12 months.
For start-ups, the Chancellor has announced the ‘Future Fund’ support package focussed on research and innovation. To qualify to receive the government money, a company must have raised £250,000 privately in the last five years and not be eligible for the other rescue schemes. This scheme ends on 31 January 2021 and more information can be found here.
Following the announcement of a national lockdown in England in January 2021, students who are not studying courses that require face to face learning (i.e. medicine) will be required to stay where they are and continue remote learning until approximately mid-February 2021. More detail, including information about which courses can return to university, can be found here.
In May 2020, the government announced a series of support measures for the HE and research sector including:
These measures were added to in July 2020 by Business Secretary Alok Sharma, with the following financial support package for the HE and research sector. It includes:
Collating information from publishing businesses about the most pressing and urgent issues that you are facing will inform our government lobbying strategy.
We will continue to survey our members in the new year to gather business intelligence on how COVID-19 is impacting our industry. If you would like to participate in these surveys, please get in touch with Eliza: ekavanagh@publishers.org.uk
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is also seeking business intelligence on how COVID-19 is impacting individual businesses and business sectors. They are welcoming information from businesses on:
You can send your business intelligence to intel@beis.gov.uk. It is understood that individual company information may be commercially sensitive, and it will be treated accordingly.
The Booksellers Association and their members are very grateful for anything publishers can do to promote books and bookselling at this difficult time for high street retailers. You can find social media resources and more information here.
If you have concerns relating to your business or would like to highlight something that you are doing, please get in touch with Maeve or Eliza respectively.