News

A snap survey of people working in small businesses across the UK^[i] has found that 65% have made a deliberate decision to support other small businesses during the pandemic and plan to do so this Christmas as far as possible. Marginally more women than men are key advocates of local, small businesses.

With talk of a potential vaccine roll-out gathering pace, we can begin to consider what business life will look like after COVID-19. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be markedly different from what life looked like before the pandemic, with some people dubbing the next phase the ‘new normal’.

• Small business owners facing failure also face increased risk of losing their home.

• The value of personal guarantee backed business loans to SMEs during the pandemic has risen on average by 45% according to analysis by Purbeck Insurance Services, provider of the UK’s only Personal Guarantee Insurance.

No company director wants to have to face up to the prospect of their business becoming insolvent. But directors have a duty to act in a certain way, in accordance with the relevant legislation, should their company find itself in a position where it can no longer pay its debts.

• 1. Applications for Personal Guarantee Insurance double[i] in September 2020 as lenders pull back from emergency loans

• • More than one million small businesses have successfully applied for a government-backed Bounce Back loan since the scheme was introduced at the start of May, according to figures from the Treasury.

    The initiative has handed out loans worth more than £30 billion as SMEs attempt to drive their businesses forward during these testing times.

• • A new survey of commercial finance brokers[i] supporting the UK’s small businesses suggests thousands of firms will be clamouring for business loans as the government support measures ease back:
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  • -> 88% of SME finance brokers anticipate rise in demand for loans as support measures ease
  • -> 87% expect rise in business owners having to sign Personal Guarantees to get access to cash

• A rise in start-ups born during the pandemic^[i] is hugely positive but also not surprising. We’ve had more time to think and do and explore new avenues, particularly where existing business models or employment have ceased to exist. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. But while the pandemic has created new opportunities, the lending environment for start-ups looks set to be challenging.

• ‘Keep your hands off my home’ - Start-ups get cash injection of £25 million without risk of personal guarantee