Many small businesses will be missing out on government coronavirus support as a result of operating out of serviced offices, says Offices.co.uk.
Northern Ireland's businesses come in all shapes and sizes, and the government's one-size-fits-all coronavirus support schemes aren't reaching many of our smaller businesses. A recent Tech Nation survey showed that 53% of UK tech startups were not accessing any of the government support available to larger and more established firms.
The government's plan to immediately support small businesses included a cash injection of £10,000 into any business with a rateable value of under £15,000. This should more than cover the rates bill for an entire year and provide significant economic stimulus to help small businesses get through the crisis, and it's combined with a full year of rates holiday for all businesses in Northern Ireland.
Businesses operating out of serviced offices unfortunately fall through the gaps in the scheme as their rates are rolled into their monthly rent. They currently don't qualify for any support even if their total outgoings on property are the same as another small business that pays rates. Jonathan Ratcliffe from serviced office site Offices.co.uk has called on the government to close this loophole:
"Put simply, if you don’t have a business rates account for your business with your local authority you get nothing. We think this could effect around 5% of small businesses in the UK, many who are struggling to continue. [...] It’s a real travesty that just because the rates are paid centrally by the provider that small innocent businesses are missing out on key cash at exactly the time they need it."
The company is writing to UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to ask for an adjustment to the Small Business Grant Funding scheme to recognise all Serviced Office and Co-working tenants as "small businesses with a Rateable Value (RV) of £15,000 and under" and enable them to access these grants.
Source: Written based on press release
