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West Norfolk Council
Norfolk Tourism Support Grant
If you're a tourism business, you may be eligible to apply for the Autumn and Winter Adaption Fund.
The Autumn and Winter Adaption Fund will enable businesses to extend the seasonal offer throughout autumn and winter where they are unable to do so at present.
You can find out more and apply on our Norfolk Tourism Support Grant page.
Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan
The Government Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) enables smaller businesses to access finance more quickly during the coronavirus outbreak.
Businesses can borrow between £2,000 and £50,000
The government will guarantee 100% of the loan and there won’t be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months
Loan terms will be up to six years
The government will work with lenders to agree a low rate of interest for the remaining period of the loan
The scheme will be delivered through a network of accredited lenders
You can find out more on the GOV.UK - Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan website page.
Local Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme
New Anglia Growth Hub have announced a Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme. This funding scheme will help qualifying businesses through the pandemic and into economic recovery. You can find out more on the New Anglia Growth Hub website.
Business grants
We're aware of the lockdown announcement on 1 November 2020. We're awaiting guidance from Government about any further business grants that may be payable. We'll update this page when we have more information.
Fenland District Council
Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG)
Businesses required to close due to the new national restrictions from 5 November to 2 December 2020 will be able to receive Local Restrictions Support Grants. These are worth up to £3,000 per month (four weeks).
Grants available (amounts subject to change):
If your business is eligible and has a property with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, you will receive grants of £1,334 per four weeks of closure
If your business is eligible and has a property with a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000, you will receive grants of £2,000 per four weeks of closure
If your business is eligible and has a property with a rateable value of £51,000 or over, you will receive grants of £3,000 per four weeks of closure
Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG)
Businesses that are required to close but do not have a rateable value may be eligible for a discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant. Many businesses are not required to close but are severely impacted.
BBL deadline for applications has been extended.
Bounce back loans: the background
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was launched because of fears small businesses couldn't access coronavirus funding quickly enough. While at MSE we don't normally cover business loans, Martin made an exception here, because he believes it provides a potentially useful backdoor support system for those who have fallen through the gaps of other measures. For example, if you're self-employed but don't qualify for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, or for limited company directors (see Martin's limited company directors' help video too).
How do bounce back loans work?
Bounce back loans are separate from the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which is for larger amounts, but not 100% state-guaranteed. If you've already applied to that you can apply to have it switched to this scheme if you prefer.
In September, the Chancellor announced more flexibility for repaying bounce back loans under the 'Pay As You Grow' Scheme – meaning new and existing borrowers can choose to extend the term of their loan to cut monthly repayments. Businesses can also take payment holidays or have periods where they make interest-only payments.
Here's what you need to know about bounce back loans:
You have until 31 January 2021 to apply, but DON'T delay. The deadline was 30 November this year, but it's now been put back to the end of January next year. However, most lenders will require you to book a background-check appointment, so don't leave it to the last minute to apply.
You can borrow between £2,000 and £50,000. Though the amount is capped at 25% of your total turnover (usually for calendar year 2019, or new businesses can estimate).
No interest will be charged and no repayments will need to be made in the first 12 months.
After 12 months, all banks will charge a fixed 2.5% annual interest. This is far cheaper than a typical personal loan.
You can repay the loan early without penalty. Or with some banks you can part-repay or overpay.
The loans can now last for 10 years. So that's a year interest-free and the rest at 2.5%. The loans were originally set up to last for six years, but this has now been extended to 10 – which the Government says could cut monthly repayments by almost half, though you will end up paying more interest. However, you can repay at any time without paying a fee, which gives you flexibility – and of course, the sooner you repay once interest is charged, the smaller the overall cost. See how the loans are repaid.
You can now take a payment holiday and/or interest-only periods of up to six months. This includes the option to:
- Move to interest-only payments temporarily up to three times, with each interest-only period lasting up to six months, and/or
- Take one payment holiday over the length of the loan, where you pause repayments entirely for up to six months. You can only use this option once you've made at least six payments (whether capital and interest or interest only).
Remember that you'll end up paying more in interest overall if you use one of these options.
The loans are unsecured. While this sounds bad, it's actually good. Secured loans include mortgages, where the lender can take your home if you don't repay. Here you don't give security (the Government does) so it's far more difficult for a credit provider to take your assets if you can't repay.
Your business must have been established before 1 March 2020. It must also still be trading as a going concern at the point of application (temporary cessation due to coronavirus doesn't matter) – and the reason for any issues must be due to coronavirus.
Credit ratings (business or personal) won't affect your eligibility – so most people should be able to get these loans. You don't need to prove the viability of your business and the application process is straightforward.
The loan will likely go on your business credit report, but not on your personal one (though banks may do 'soft' credit checks on both).
You apply for a bounce back loan via a bank – at least 14 are offering them. See full bank-by-bank list.
You need a business to set these up but don't need a business bank account. At least some of the banks offering these loans don't require you to have a business account with them (though it's difficult to get the loans if you don't have a business account with the relevant bank).
Bounce back loans DON'T affect your eligibility for other Government personal support. You can still apply for a bounce back loan and get the self-employment income support grants, and you may still be eligible for universal credit.
Bounce back loans can be used to repay existing finance. We've confirmed this with a number of individual lenders. We're still checking whether there are any that have specific terms to prevent it.