It was never going to be an easy task for the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to deliver a budget four weeks into his new job and with the ongoing crisis of the coronavirus outbreak at the front of everyone’s mind. But from the point of view of the majority of firms, many would agree that he succeeded in making this the most business friendly budget for some time last week. Obviously, the headlines were his in initial efforts to support firms during the expected shutdown over the next few months to control the Covid-19 virus such as full business rate relief for the majority of small firms. Not surprisingly after the UK essentially came to a halt earlier this week, he vastly extended the amount of support last night by setting aside £330 billion of government guaranteed loans for struggling businesses with funding of up to £5 million available to each business with no interest for five months. No doubt this will be critical in ensuring that the majority of small to medium sized bu...
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