• new figures show government economic support is reaching every corner of the UK
• businesses across the entire UK have received government-backed loans during outbreak – with more than 130,000 firms in devolved nations receiving £4.7 billion
• data also shows that nearly 900,000 firms in England have benefitted from over £10 billion in business grants

Figures released by the Treasury show that more than 130,000 firms in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have benefitted from £4.7 billion of coronavirus support through the government’s Bounce Back Loan and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). This includes:

• loans and support worth more than £2.3 billion have been given to more than 65,000 firms in Scotland since the outbreak
• around 41,000 businesses in Wales have received more than £1.4 billion in finance
• and more than 25,000 businesses in Northern Ireland have received over £1 billion

The figures also show that businesses up and down England have also benefitted from more than £10 billion in business grants, with equivalent funding being made available to the nations through the Barnett formula.

• more than 102,000 business properties in Yorkshire and the Humber received £1.1 billion in grants since the pandemic
• alongside 119,000 grants made in the South West, to the value of £1.3 billion
• and 131,000 business properties in the North West receiving over £1.5 billion in support

Loan schemes, grants and business rates holidays have supported businesses across all sectors. But the retail, construction and hospitality sectors, including hotels and restaurants, have benefitted the most.

17% of loans went to the construction sector, and all retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses benefitted from a 100% business rates holiday – demonstrating how government support helped those businesses that were impacted hardest by the pandemic.

Ahead of a visit to Scotland to see the impact of the government support schemes and meet people who have benefitted, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:

I recently set out the government’s next steps towards economic recovery and securing the UK’s long-term prosperity in our Plan for Jobs.

As we embark on this next phase, the latest figures demonstrate that we are continuing to support jobs, incomes, and businesses across every corner of the UK.

As well as loan schemes, grants and businesses rates holiday, around a third of employees in every region benefitted from the furlough scheme, in addition to support through the self-employed income support scheme, as the government moved quickly to support businesses across the whole country to protect jobs. This is part of a package of over £50 billion in loans, £11 billion in grants, and 9.5 million people furloughed.

The Chancellor set out his Plan for Jobs last month, which will support jobs with the Job Retention Bonus to help businesses keep furloughed workers, and expand Worksearch Support including a Flexible Support Fund and a £2 billion Kickstart scheme to subsidise jobs for young people

The government is also creating jobs in the construction and housing sectors through funding to decarbonise public sector buildings, and protecting jobs with VAT cuts for hospitality and tourism, as well as the Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme. These schemes are union-wide, and support key industries across the whole of the UK.

This comes in addition to the government’s recent announcement that the devolved administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will receive a minimum of £3.6 billion in additional funding this year, on top of the £8.9billion confirmed since March to support the coronavirus recovery.

Stephen Pegge, Managing Director of Commercial Finance at UK Finance, said:

Lenders understand that times are tough for businesses up and down the country, but the industry has a clear plan to help them get through this crisis. Whether you’re a sole trader in a rural area or a company with hundreds of employees in a major city, the banking and finance industry stands ready to offer the right support to suit your needs and these figures demonstrate that funding is well distributed throughout the UK.

Businesses should remember that any lending provided under government-backed schemes is a loan not a grant, and so should carefully consider their ability to repay before applying.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said:

Our unprecedented package of support has helped firms of all sizes, in all sectors, and in every corner of our United Kingdom.

Today’s data shows just how big an impact our measures have had, providing breathing space for millions of businesses, safeguarding jobs and protecting people’s incomes.

As we bounce back from the pandemic, we will continue to prioritise jobs and skills, while placing the environment at the heart of our recovery.

Further information

Breakdown of facilities offered by region – CBILS

Breakdown of loans offered by region – BBLS

• Source: British Business Bank
• *Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2019
• Offered figures published by the British Business Bank may differ from aggregate approved figures published by HM Treasury due to a time lag between the two data sources, and since some borrowers may decide not to proceed with an approved application.
• Sectoral breakdowns for the loans scheme can be found on the British Business Bank’s website here.
• Details on geographic and sectoral split for the CJRS and SEISS schemes can be found here.

Business Grants

• The data provided are based on the latest estimates for these grants by parliamentary constituency and local authority as at 5 July 2020.
• The data are self-reported by local authorities. Although some quality assurance has been carried out, it has not been possible to carry out full verification of the data provided.
• Data presented here may differ from data on grants provided by local authorities previously published by local authority as at 5 July for various reasons. For example, where a hereditament is on a boundary and not identified as being within a local authority by the postcode look up file, it is excluded from the constituency figures. A full reconciliation exercise will take place at the end of the schemes. In the meantime, these figures should be regarded as provisional.
• Business grants are England-only, but are Barnetted.

See more statistics on coronavirus funding for businesses and self employed people here.

People arriving in England from Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas from 4am Saturday 8 August 2020 will need to self-isolate for 2 weeks as the countries are removed from the travel exemptions list.

Data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England has indicated a significant change in both the level and pace of confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in all 3 destinations, leading to ministers removing these from the current list of travel corridors.

There has been a consistent increase in COVID-19 cases per 100,000 of the population in Belgium since the middle of July, with a 4-fold increase in total cases over this time period. In Andorra, new cases per week have increased 5-fold over the same time period, while in The Bahamas the weekly case rate peaked at 78.6 last week, up from 3.1 in mid-July.

Brunei and Malaysia have been added to the government’s travel corridor list following a decrease in confirmed cases of coronavirus. From 4am on Tuesday 11 August 2020, passengers arriving to England from these destinations will no longer need to self-isolate, so long as they haven’t been in or transited through any other non-exempt countries in the 14 days preceding their arrival.

At the same time, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has also updated its travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas. Brunei and Malaysia are already exempt from the FCO’s global advisory against non-essential travel.

The government has made consistently clear it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, including removing countries from the travel corridors list rapidly if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high.

People currently in Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas are encouraged to follow the local rules and check the FCO travel advice pages on GOV.UK for further information. The government is urging employers to be understanding of those returning from these destinations who now will need to self-isolate.

COVID-19 has profoundly changed the nature of international travel. Travellers should always check the latest advice from the FCO, given the potential for changing coronavirus infection rates to affect both the advice about travelling to other countries and rules about self-isolation on return. All travellers, including those from exempt destinations, will still be required to show a complete passenger locator form on arrival into the UK unless they fall into a small group of exemptions.