21
Government
business
rescue plans
Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi
Sunak announced that the
government will pay up to 80% of
the wages of individual UK workers
up to a maximum of £2,500 per
month. In order to qualify,
employees must ‘furloughed’ -
which means put on paid leave.
They may not work during this
period. According to the
government, the company pays the
salaries, and then claims it back.
Chancellor Sunak went further in
his measures to save businesses
and has confirmed that the
government will be deferring the
next quarter of VAT payments, the
equivalent of a £30bn injection into
the economy. Business rates have
also been abolished for a year for
businesses operating in the in
retail, leisure and hospitality
sectors.
The new Coronavirus Business
Interruption Loan Scheme is now
available for applications for small
and medium sized businesses. The
scheme will help any viable
business with a turnover of up to
£45m gain access to
government-backed finance of up
to £5m. Interest payments and any
lender-levied fees for businesses
will be covered by the government
for an initial period of up to 12
months. The government has said
it will provide lenders with a
guarantee of 80% on each facility
to give lenders further confidence
in continuing to provide finance to
SMEs. The scheme is available
through more than 40 accredited
lenders, which are listed on the
British Business Bank website.
The Bank of England’s new
lending facility for larger firms – the
Covid Corporate Financing Facility
- will also be open for applications,
23 March.
industries. We aren’t just the
‘party people’.
And therein, perhaps, lies
the silver lining. In the face of
this crisis, there is a strong
chance we will emerge with
this particular demon
banished.
You may have seen Mash
Media’s portfolio of
magazines, Conference News,
Conference & Meetings World,
Exhibition News, Exhibition
World and Access All Areas,
jointly wrote to prime minister
Boris Johnson. In it we noted
when the nation emerges from
this crisis, all industrial sectors
will need to rebuild their
confidence. Events will be a
major facilitator of this and
remain a critical component in
the rebuilding of both regional
and national economies. We
dare not lose this expertise
and capacity.
Through the government’s
support measures, it has been
key to protect skilled events
personnel and maintain a fully
functioning supply chain so
that it is there on the other
side when we need it.
We at Mash have worked
tirelessly over the last month
on behalf of the industry,
bringing the conversation to
the national news
agenda and pushing
government for further
support. But we have
not been alone.
Collectively, Mash
Media’s titles have been
in touch with the
industry’s
various trade
associations frequently over
the last few weeks (meet
some of them on p11), and I,
personally, can say with
genuine endorsement that
they have taken their
responsibilities exceptionally
seriously and have not
stopped snapping at the heels
of government.
It is not uncommon to hear
people give short shrift when
asked for their views on the
trade associations, we are a
diverse industry after all, and it
isn’t always so easy to find one
that fits your business. “I don’t
see the value in them,” I get
told. Let me tell you this: the
pressure they have applied is
in part responsible for the
government’s support
measures. They have been the
united voice on your behalf,
and they certainly haven’t
done it for the money.
One may argue that their
job was made doubly hard by
the fact that not only did they
need to call for further help,
but they had to raise
awareness about the industry
before they could even start. A
fair point: but let me assure
you, it is the loudest our voice
has ever been. Considering
the industry doesn’t have a
Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) code,
and comes under both the
DCMS and DIT, the fact
we got anything is
testament to the work
www.conference-news.co.uk
Cover Story
that
has gone
before it. If
this had happened three years
ago, many more would have
gone out of business, I
suspect.
We are now settling into a
new, albeit temporary, normal,
which could last a few months.
With the industry effectively on
pause, it is only customary to
think about what we are going
to do when we emerge from
this. How we conduct
ourselves now, for better or for
worse, will be remembered.
PR has never been so
important.
Are you a venue holding on
to money that an organiser
needs to take the event
elsewhere; can you be
flexible? Are you an organiser
who has been forced to
suspend contracts with
suppliers; will you give them
first refusal to come back
when this blows over? There
are thousands of
permutations, and we all have
targets to hit, but if we are to
stand any hope of getting as
many shows back on the
seemingly very short road as
possible, then you are all going
to need to do your bit, to
swallow a bit of pride, and help
each other out as much as you
can. All differences are petty
where rebuilding the industry
is concerned.
There will always be ‘that
guy’, try and make sure it
isn’t
you. We must
remain united.