Furlough for Directors and Supporting Local People

Newsletter Archive

 CV19: Furloughed Directors!! 💙

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Hi  

Today I want to keep it brief and only talk about TWO things: FURLOUGHED STAFF & DIRECTORS and HOW WE CAN SUPPORT EACH OTHER.

 

Furloughed Staff 

 

I've been asked by SO MANY people how the numbers on this will actually work, so I've created a quick example and put it at the head of this email so you don't miss it 🧮.

This applies to staff whose normal monthly salary was £3,125pm or less AND you pay them 80% or less of their salary whilst furloughed.

As every situation is different I'm happy to talk you through the calculations for your own business if you want to give me a call.

As you can see, there is ZERO overall cost to the employer. BUT remember you have to pay the staff as normal and claim this back from HMRC when their portal is ready - probably in May. So this will affect your cash flow in the short term.

 

Can I Furlough Myself?

 

Following pressure from the business community (and the changing-his-mind-and-back-again from Martin Lewis 🤦‍♂️), the govt has now published their guidance on whether the 80% grant will apply to directors. They have confirmed THE GRANT WILL APPLY TO DIRECTORS where the other conditions are also met. Woop woop! 🥂

The big question, of course, was how a Director could do no work whatsoever whilst on furlough if they are the only director of the company? Direct from the horse's mouth:

Where furloughed directors need to...fulfil the statutory obligations they owe to their company, they may do so provided they do no more than would reasonably be judged necessary for that purpose. They should not...generate commercial revenue or provides services to or on behalf of their company.

This also applies to salaried individuals who are directors of their own personal service company (PSC).

Assuming you have effectively shut the doors for the time being, I cannot see a problem with running the payroll, making sure suppliers are paid, applying for the various grants available and so on in the background. Certainly, if your company year-end was 31st March, you can absolutely use this time to get your records together and send them to your accountant! 🙏

Of course, you'll only be getting 80% of your salary, which for most directors will be less than £600. So you must ask yourself - can I generate £600 income this month by staying open for business?

 

Supporting Each Other

 

I know it looks bleak out there right now, but this email goes out to hundreds of people from diverse business backgrounds, mainly in the south west.

It made me think; if your business has been hammered by CV19 but is still able to continue trading in some capacity, can we use the power of everyone in this group, and their contacts, to generate some work for you?

Regardless of whether you're a client or not - it really doesn't matter - if you want to tell me about your business, how it's been affected, how we can help and what work you are still able to offer under lockdown then, perhaps, someone might just be after that right now. Please get in touch if we can help share what you can offer.

 

I hope you've been enjoying the various penguin photos in our emails. These were all taken for me by local photographer Aisling Magill, who I've chosen to be the first business we're going to feature here:

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I’m Aisling and I run Aisling Magill Photography. Don’t worry, I’m better at taking pictures than I am at thinking up names. With a background in Press and PR I’m qualified with an NCTJ in PhotoJournalism. My aim is to help businesses build their brands with visual storytelling. I tend to work closely with businesses, charities, educational facilities and the media, covering everything from portraits to products to events.

Covid-19 has made it impossible for me to operate in any normal capacity and has scuppered my big ideas for 2020. I think the effects on my business will be far-reaching in that it will take a long time to recover, if I can see it through to the other side. It has however opened up a creative space and given me time to evaluate how I can modify my approach, and try to grow in different directions.

I am still able to assist virtually, so If you need help with editing photos and video or want a fix on that old shot of grandad, I can certainly see if I can help.

I have a fully equipped home studio and can shoot products provided we can arrange collection or delivery. [Such as the lovely photos of the penguin mugs and pens etc...PW]

I am looking at ways I can support other small business and will soon be launching a series of how-to guides on my website to help you take better photos in isolation, I hope they will help give you a few ideas, or help entertain the children. I’m also working on a subscription-based system which will allow businesses to spread the costs of their photography when we are allowed out and about again. So please like and share my pages. I’m always happy to have a chat, about anything. Good Luck indoors.

You can find me on the usual social media channels and at www.aislingmagill.com

Can you help Aisling? Is there anyone you know who might have use of her services during these trying times? Do get in touch with her.

That's all for now - but, as ever, give me a call if you want to talk through any support we can provide you with (even if we're not your accountant).

 

 

Peter and the Blue Penguin team. 💙

 

Smallprint: this is a massively fluid situation. The above is our understanding right now, but things are changing daily. Please don't take any of this as legal advice, yada yada. We'll do our best to keep you up to date with more information as we get it. Please call us for clarification on any points above.

 

Blue Penguin Chartered Accountants • 16 Claremont Drive, Taunton TA1 4JF

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