UK govt rules out fresh financial support for businesses

The British government has ruled out new financial support for companies despite introducing a fresh bout of coronavirus restrictions. Business lobby groups have called for extra state help to cover losses expected from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new Covid-19 measures, which include guidance for people to work from home, and a requirement for vaccine passports to access larger venues.
The policy chief at the City of London Corporation, said, “Christmas has been cancelled for many City shops, restaurants, pubs and other businesses that rely on footfall from workers in nearby offices.” However, Treasury officials said there would be no further support for businesses during the so-called Plan B restrictions for England that Johnson announced last week.
A source was quoted in a media report as saying, “There is already support in place.” Several pubs and restaurants have reported a rise in cancellations because of public concern over the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. Hospitality, leisure and retail companies can secure business rates relief at 66 per cent until next March, however, capped at £2m per business.
Value-added tax paid by hospitality and tourism businesses has been set at 12.5 per cent until April when it is due to return to the standard 20 per cent rate. The Treasury said its Covid-19 support package for businesses would continue into next spring and “we will continue to respond proportionately to the changing path of the virus, as we have done since the start of the pandemic”.
Ruby McGregor-Smith, president of the British Chambers of Commerce, said there needed to be “a package of support to ensure that we get through a challenging winter without serious damage to our economic recovery”, including grants for affected companies and their supply chains.