Coronavirus Information For Businesses

This page contains information and updates for your business key during the coronavirus pandemic. If you have any queries regarding your business please contact our Economic Development team:
You can also contact our Revenues department for queries regarding Business Rates and Government Grants to revenues@surreyheath.gov.uk. 

Useful links 

A full range of business support measures have been made available to UK businesses and employees. 
 

Coronavirus: Business rates support measures 

The Government has announced its business rates support measures in light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 
 

Rate Relief 

The Government will provide 100% business rates retail relief for the current year 2020/21 for the following occupied premises: 
  • Shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas, and live music venues 
This is now extended to include:
  • Sports, assembly and leisure premises 
  • Hotels, guest and boarding houses, holiday accommodation, caravan parks 
More information is available on the Support for Businesses webpage on the Government website.
 
We are working hard to get these applied to your accounts so that your 2020/21 bill reflects the 100% relief provided by the Government. 
 
We will be contacting businesses directly to confirm this has been applied to their account and will to do this over the coming weeks. We will update our website when this is happening. 
 
If it is unclear whether a particular premises is eligible for the relief, we will contact the rate payer or they can email us at revenues@surreyheath.gov.uk .
 
If you currently pay your Business Rates by Direct Debit and have Retail Discount shown on your 20/21 bill we will not be requesting by payment from your bank.
 

Business Grants 

Bounce Back Loans, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Large Business Interruption Loan and the Coronavirus future fund - All deadlines have been extended to 31st January 2021.  Full details can be found on the Business Support section of the Government website. 
 

Grants for Businesses  

The council has been allocated money from the government to provide support to businesses in Surrey Heath that will be financially affected by COVID-19. The Additional Restrictions Grant Phase Two will open in January 2021. More details can be found here on the COVID-19 Business Grant webpage.
 
For more information please visit the Government website.
 

Sign up for our Business Newsletter

For updates direct, please register for our business newsletter. 
 

Self Employed Income Support Scheme

If you are self employed the Government has announced the the Self Employed Income Support Scheme. 

The Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will support self-employed individuals (including members of partnerships) whose income has been negatively impacted by COVID-19. The scheme will provide a grant to self-employed individuals or partnerships, worth 80% of their profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

HMRC will use the average profits from tax returns in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to calculate the size of the grant. The scheme will be open to those where the majority of their income comes from self-employment and who have profits of less than £50,000. The scheme will be open for an initial three months with people able to make their first claim by the beginning of June. 

Find out more about the Government Job Support Scheme on the .gov.uk website.

 

Business scams

Surrey Heath businesses are being warned of a new emerging scam that targets them applying for the Government’s Small Business Grants programme.

​The scam starts with businesses receiving fake emails stating that it is from the local authority. The email says that a cash grant application has been processed and asks that businesses clicks on the requested link. Once the link is opened, it leads to a request for an advance fee or tries to capture bank and card details to receive a payment. 

Business owners are being asked by the council to submit bank details only via the following link: surreyheath.gov.uk/business/business-rates/reliefs-exemptions/covid-19-grant-funding

If anyone has any concerns about their business, they can contact the Council tel 01276 707100 or email revenues@surreyheath.gov.uk.

 

Test and Trace Information for Businesses

Surrey County Council has launched a phased communication campaign entitled ‘Keep Surrey Safe’ to raise awareness that everyone who has symptoms of Coronavirus can now get tested and that if they test positive they need to share contacts with NHS Test and Trace to stop the spread of the virus. By continuing to follow safety guidelines and engaging in Test and Trace, we can all play our part to Keep Surrey safe and avoid local lockdowns.

 

NHS COVID19 app launches 24 September what businesses need to do to be ready

The new NHS COVID19 App will be available to download from 24 September. Certain types of businesses will shortly have a legal requirement to display a QR poster at their premises ready for the general public to scan from the 24 September.
 
 
Types of venues who will be legally obliged to display a QR poster are:
  • Hospitality – bars, restaurants, hotels, cafes
  • Tourism and Leisure – museums, galleries, gyms, leisure centres
  • Local authority buildings
  • Places of worship
  • Close contact services
  • Where an event is taking place in a physical location

Important information for businesses:-

Videos explaining the App and QR code requirement:-