As part of our continued commitment to supporting customers through the financial challenges caused by Covid-19, we wanted to share with you a summary of the new measures that have been introduced by the Government, which may help you.
• The Government’s Job Support Scheme (JSS) will be expanded to protect jobs and support businesses required to close as a result of coronavirus restrictions. The Government will pay two thirds of employees’ salaries to protect jobs over the coming months.
• Cash grants for businesses required to close in local lockdowns have been increased to up to £3,000 per month.
• The Government is making the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme more generous so that businesses in England can receive up to £3,000 per month, and are eligible for payment sooner, after only two weeks of closure rather than three.
• Further details on the expanded JSS can be found on this factsheet: Job Support Scheme Expansion for Closed Business Premises
We are proud to partner with Business Debtline, a national charity providing free and confidential debt and cashflow advice and support to businesses and organisations throughout the UK. More information is available on the Business Debtline website here, or by calling them free on 0800 197 6026.
As more areas across the UK move into more stringent local lockdown measures, we want to make sure that we are billing our customers as accurately as possible. Accurate energy bills are vital when managing business expenditure, especially in these difficult times, so please provide us with regular meter readings by contacting us directly or using the customer portal. If you’re struggling to pay or your circumstances have changed, please let us know as soon as you can – the sooner we know, the sooner we can help.
We would also recommend keeping up to date with all official guidance from the Government during this time. You can find more guidance for businesses and employers on their website here.
If you haven’t already done so, we would urge you to register for a BES Online Account, which will enable to you view and download invoices, make payments, enter meter readings and raise queries, as well as a number of other options.
