UK stocks rise as businesses promised extra £4.6bn in lockdown support – business live

Despite calls for further business support (and quick), the chancellor Rishi Sunak has reportedly said that the budget in March will be an excellent opportunity to take stock and set out the next stage of support, according to Reuters.

The budget is set for 3 March.

British Chamber of Commerce boss Adam Marshall has criticised the government for failing to announce Covid restrictions and business support measures at the same time last night.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, he said:

This is a pattern that we have seen repeatedly whereby businesses find that their operations are going to be somehow further curtailed without having knowledge of the support that’s going to be there to help them through that period of restriction and difficulty.

It should be possible, I think, to announce both restrictions and support in tandem, because that in turn generates business confidence and means that phones aren’t ringing off the hook with worried businesses wondering whether they’ll be able to open and be whether they’ll be able to pay their people and their suppliers at the end of the month.

TUI and Thomas Cook are among the airlines cancelling their UK flights amid fresh Covid lockdowns, according to the BBC Scotland’s business editor:

There are still looming deadlines marking the end of government-backed loans, business rates and VAT relief, that may not be offset by the grants programme.

It raises questions over whether further support could be announced before the March budget.

ITV business editor Joel Hills has helpfully laid out the bulk of government support offered to date to businesses hit by Covid:

British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall says the latest batch of support is effectively short-term plaster, and longer-term solutions are needed if businesses are to survive the next year.

Speaking to Sky News on Ian King Live this morning, Marshall said:

Our rationale is that many businesses are going to face a difficult and uncertain time throughout this year, even if we are lucky enough to see vaccine rollouts happening quickly over the coming months.

It’s going to take businesses time to reestablish demands to re establish cash flow and so much more besides support needs to be consistent and available for a long enough period of time, to help save many of those good businesses and let them get back on their feet.

He added:

I don’t see many businesses are able to invest in these circumstances and when you look at the support measures that are available, many of them still have a cliff edge at the end of March, or at the end of April, they are very short term in nature.

And however welcome they might be for those businesses who are struggling to pay their bills over a period of weeks or indeed a month or two, they don’t let many companies plan.

British Airways owner IAG has said it’s reviewing its flight schedule following the UK’s national lockdown, according to Reuters.

We’ll bring you further updates as we get them.

Some business owners have fairly pointed out that supply chains firms could be missing out on direct grants, as many may not have the kinds of physical premises that would make them eligible for large enough grants to cover their costs.

The CEO of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation says:

The FTSE 250 has continued to climb and is now up nearly 1%.

It was previously trading higher by around 0.4% before the news broke

The domestically-focused FTSE 250 is making further gains in the wake of the chancellor’s grant announcement and is now up 0.7% at 20,688 points.

The FTSE 100 is up around 0.3% at 6,597 points.

The pound is also edging higher against the US dollar, up 0.1% at $1.3585.

You can follow the Treasury’s announcement in more detail on our politics live blog:

Of course, this means if you don’t have physical sites, you are at the mercy of the discretionary fund and we don’t yet know how that will be distributed.

Nonetheless, the Institute of Directors business group has broadly welcomed the support:

The chancellor’s £594m discretionary fund for businesses will be shared between the devolved nations as follows:

• The Scottish government will receive £375m
• The Welsh government will receive £227m
• The Northern Ireland executive will receive £127m

BBC Scotland’s business editor Douglas Fraser breaks down the eligibility criteria for the new business grants:

BREAKING: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced new support for businesses hit by fresh lockdowns.

Support includes:

• One-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring

The Treasury says that the grants will be offered on a per-property basis, and is expected to help 600,000 sites. The total cost is expected to be around £4bn.

• A £594m discretionary fund also made available to support other impacted businesses

The funds will be made available via local authorities and the devolved administrations to support businesses not eligible for the grants, but might be affected by the restrictions. Businesses should apply to their local authorities.

Going back to Next, chief executive Simon Wolfson has confirmed that the retailer is part of a consortium bidding for some Arcadia brands.

However, he stressed that Next is not looking at taking a majority stake in any Arcadia deal, Reuters reports.

Our retail correspondent Sarah Butler reported in December that Next was considering teaming up with the US owner of Oak Furnitureland to buy Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, which fell into administration in November, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.