News While business groups welcomed the ‘jobs first approach‘ (CityAM) of the Chancellor’s economic recovery plan, the Resolution Foundation was one of many calling the Job Retention Bonus a “deadweight loss” and “too small and temporary to have a major impact” Thousands of business advisors to offer free services to small firms (gov.uk announces the Recov...
Read More »News Scooter startups take to UK streets from early July (Sifted) Future Fund opens to British startups headquartered overseas (Growth Business) ‘Codecademy for VCs’ launches (Sifted covers Merit) Female Ventures Fund to invest £10m in women-only startups in first year (Growth Business) SETsquared Bristol bags ‘hottest accelerator in Europe’ award (Government Computing) Opi...
Read More »Refugee Week To celebrate Refugee Week, CFE has partnered with The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network to share the stories of five inspiring refugee entrepreneurs. Tune in to our Facebook page at 5pm every day this week for live interviews conducted by food entrepreneur Fatma Al-Baiti. Today, Fatma interviews Celso Oliveira, a Timorese community leader who is launching TimorEast Artisan with support ...
Read More »News The Future Fund continues to divide opinion, with Sifted highlighting ongoing concerns from various stakeholders. Today, 30 founders of British startups that are registered overseas have called on the Treasury to modify the terms. Banks issued £5bn of Bounce Back Loans to 16,000 companies in the first three days of the scheme going live. The Job Retention Scheme is reportedly to be extended t...
Read More »News The Future Fund – the startup support package announced last week – was broadly welcomed across the sector, though not without caution. Beauhurst highlighted that just 27% (7,629) of the startups they track are eligible. SeedLegals concluded that “few startups will qualify, and for those that do it’s a bad deal”. Coadec noted that while it is a welcome developmen...
Read More »News The government has announced a £1.25bn support package for startups, including a Future Fund that will provide £125k – £5m in convertible loans to match private-sector investment. However, the requirement for companies to have raised £250k excludes many viable angel-backed companies. The job rentention scheme has been expanded to benefit more newly-hired employees and extended until the...
Read More »Save UK Charities Charities play a vital role in communities across the UK. But at this time of crisis — when they are needed most — many are experiencing a sharp drop in income. This is harming their ability to support people during the crisis and threatens their survival. We’re asking government to enact two simple ideas to help them continue to deliver services and rebuild their finances....
Read More »Covid community responses The Prince’s Trust and NatWest have launched an Enterprise Relief Fund to help 18-30-year olds who are self-employed and/or running their own business. Forward Partners has launched ‘Forward Advances‘, a revenue-based finance solution for startups Innovate UK has announced £20m of grant funding for businesses to help build UK resilience Eze Vidra (Reimag...
Read More »Covid-19 Where to find guidance: Government guidance for employees, employers and businesses BEIS business support helpline and the HMRC Covid-19 helpline. Former Number 10 business advisor Jimmy McLoughlin is publishing daily newsletters featuring the latest government guidance, as well as insight, resources and inspiration. How entrepreneurs, startups and businesses are responding: The UK tech i...
Read More »Covid-19 Where to find guidance: The government guidance for employees, employers and businesses will remain the authoritative source of guidance for entrepreneurs. It is being constantly updated and expanded based on queries being submitted to government by business groups. Entrepreneurs can also call the BEIS business support helpline or the HMRC Covid-19 helpline. Enterprise Nation is collating...
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