Over two-thirds of small UK firms have furloughed staff, says survey

MORE than 70 per cent of small and medium-sized British businesses have put at least some staff on leave due to the coronavirus, and are waiting for government funds from a business support programme, the British Chambers of Commerce said on Wednesday.

The 71 per cent of firms furloughing staff is up from 66 per cent in the survey last week, while 30 per cent said they had put more than three-quarters of their employees on leave until restrictive measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 are lifted.

The government programme to pay businesses 80 per cent of the salaries of staff on leave opened on Monday, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it had registered over a million furloughed staff in its first eight hours.

This is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. Government budget forecasters said 30 per cent of employees could end up on the scheme during a three-month lockdown, costing around £42 billion in what is Britain's most expensive programme to support the economy through the crisis.

Separate official figures last week suggested that a quarter of businesses had temporarily stopped trading, and that the remainder had on average put a fifth of their staff on leave.

The government grants to cover staff salaries are due by the end of the month for firms that apply by the end of Wednesday.

"It is now critical that payments from the furlough scheme reach businesses as smoothly and as quickly as possible in order to protect jobs and livelihoods," BCC director general Adam Marshall said.

The BCC said that of the 678 firms it surveyed from April 15-17, only 40 per cent had more than three months cash in reserve, making government help essential for many.

Britain's government hopes the scheme will limit the rise in unemployment during a period when output may fall by more than a third, and enable business to return to normal faster once restrictions on everyday life are lifted.