This week, the Government has focused its attentions on the initiatives that will help the UK economy to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. In this week’s blog, we cover updates to the Government support schemes, the launch of recovery roundtables to unleash the UK’s growth potential and news highlights featuring some of our inspiring Members.

FEMALE FOUNDER HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a quick wrap up of this week’s news highlights, featuring some of our inspiring Members and other female founders from the network:

Mr & Mrs Smith, founded by our Member Tamara Lohan, has launched a crowd-funder to raise money for a night off for NHS and care home workers. The initiative is aimed at giving 1000 NHS workers a night at one of their hotels. To find out more and donate to the crowd-funder, click here. If you are an NHS or care home worker, you can apply for a free stay here.
Founder of Enterprise Alumni and our Member, Emma Sinclair has started #FounderHour with three guests joining each session.You can register for a #FounderHour Webinar here.
June Angelides, founder of Mums in Tech spoke with Danielle Newhnan about lockdown life in London and the opportunities coming out of the coronavirus pandemic – “there has never been more accelerated innovation”. You can read the full interview here at Medium.
Cofinitive, founded by our Member, Faye Holland, ran its #21toWatch Campaign and Awards this week. The campaign is run each year to showcase and highlight individuals and companies across Cambridge and the East of England who are setting the standards in innovation and entrepreneurship.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

1. Self-Employment Income Support Scheme extended

The Government has announced a final lifeline for the self-employed. Those eligible for support under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be able to claim a second and final grant in August 2020. The grant will be worth 70% of average monthly trading profits, covering three months’ worth of profits and capped at £6,570. For an update on the Scheme, check out our policy update.

2. Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extended

The Government has explained how it intends to continue to support jobs as people begin to return to work. From 1 July 2020, businesses will be given the flexibility to bring employees on furlough back to work part time. In June and July the Government will continue paying 80% of furloughed wages, up to £2,500. From 1 August 2020, the payments will be tapered to reflect the fact that people will be returning to work as follows:

August 2020 – employers will be asked to pay NI and employer pension contributions
September 2020 – contributions will drop to 70%, with employers paying 10%
October 2020 – contributions will drop to 60% with employers paying 20%

The scheme will shut in October/November. For more information, check our policy updates and our Twitter updates.

3. Business Secretary launches recovery roundtables

The Government has announced the launch of 5 new business-focused groups to unleash Britain’s growth potential and create new jobs. This is part of the Government’s plan to help the economy bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic.

The ‘recovery roundtables’ will bring together businesses, business representative groups and leading academics to consider measures to support economic recovery. The roundtables will focus on 5 key themes: the future of industry, green recovery, backing new business, increasing opportunity and opening the UK for business.

BARCLAYS SUPPORT AND OPPORTUNITIES

1. Barclays Back to Business Programme

Barclays has launched a free toolkit to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK get back on their feet as they navigate the uncertainty created by coronavirus. The 'Barclays Back to Business' programme has been designed in partnership with the Cambridge Judge Business School and is open to all UK SMEs. The toolkit is designed to help business owners assess the overall health of their business, and create a tailored resilience plan for challenging periods. It is packed with practical tools including a working capital calculator, cash flow forecasts, and guidance on managing supply chain relationships.

Register your interest here. Cambridge Judge Business School will get in touch to confirm your place on the programme, including how to access the online platform, which launches on 22 June 2020. For more information, check out Barclays Back to Business Programme.

2. Barclays Entrepreneur Awards – now open for nominations!

The Barclays Entrepreneur Awards are back for the fifth year running and whilst the start to 2020 has been a difficult time for all, it's given us even more reason to celebrate entrepreneurs and recognise their achievements. So often it's their exceptional innovation alongside their drive for social change and to overcome challenges that keep the country moving forward.

To find further information on the awards itself, please visit our website here and you can find further details on the award criteria’s and categories directly on our nomination website. Submit you nomination by Friday 3 July.

3. Virtual Event – with Nicky Goulimis (co-founder and COO of Nova Credit)

Nicky Goulimis, the Co-Founder and COO of Nova Credit will be joining Juliet Rogan, Head of Barclays High Growth and Entrepreneurs, for an informative discussion on how to rapidly scale and expand your business. In this session on Thursday 9 July at 5pm, you’ll find out how Nova Credit went from light bulb moment to a $50m Series B funding round and learn more about Nicky’s experiences as a successful female founder. To sign up for this event, please register here.

4. Barclays Coronavirus Support Hub

The Barclays coronavirus support hub provides the latest information, tools and guidance to support businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic. This hub includes information about Barclays’ products, webinars, Facebook live events and more information on how to access the government schemes. You can also download Barclays’ coronavirus checklist to support your business resilience planning throughout this period. There is also an updated FAQs section on this hub.