Funding available to help business continue and grow
You will have heard it said that turnover is vanity, profit is sanity and cash is king. And now you know why..!
At BPE, as with many of our clients, we stopped managing the "p and l" weeks ago...managing cash is everything.
We have been preparing for this crisis since the last one by building reserves and facilities, increasing capital and keeping the playbook up to date. We are reacting to the pandemic by reducing staff working hours and pushing our debtors to turn into cash. This is happening, just at a slower rate.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has introduced furlough. A scheme that is hugely helpful in funding our continuing operations and preserving our teams for when lockdown is lifted, and we all go back to a new normal.
What next for funding?
We are still seeing money being raised for deals and ongoing operations from private wealth.
We did that ourselves back in 2012 to support our management buy-out so we know it works.
And there are the government loan schemes: the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Self-employment Income Support Scheme, to name just two are ensuring that businesses can operate smoothly to preserve a healthy cash flow to most businesses, both small and large.
The banks however, and the government need to work harder to help individuals as well as businesses, to help stimulate our economy. The property market has slowed, the leisure and tourism industries have all but stopped while key workers are working flat-out.
But you can help yourselves or indeed, you can get help by applying for the loan schemes the government has made available (the Future Fund, the Job Retention Scheme) to us all, to ensure we have businesses and job to go back to. But to do so, you need to have good application. One that is well presented and delivers the right information. Good applications stay at the top of the pile that bank employees have to assess each day.
Help is available so yours is an application that a bank employee will accept. We have two reputable sources recommend when making your applications. The first is Hazlewoods: Cheltenham-based accounts, ranked in the UK’s Top 30 independent Business Advisors and Chartered Accounts and the second is Shaw LLP, corporate finance experts that advises SME business owners on how to grow, fund and exit their business.
We will carry on delivering the legal support you need, in what is unquestionably a challenging time.
Please do not hesitate to contact myself or one of the wider team if required.
These notes have been prepared for the purpose of an article only. They should not be regarded as a substitute for taking legal advice.
