COVID loan woes

Over 350k SMEs cannot repay Covid loans A survey of small businesses has found that 59% used government loans or furlough schemes during the pandemic – around 3.5m businesses. The YouGov poll commissioned by Lawbite also reveals that at least 10%, which could represent as much as 354,000 SMEs, could not now repay the loan due to the impact of cash flow and supply chains. About 18% of participants intend to make redundancies, and 16% cannot afford to pay existing staff due to the impact of loan repayments. Founder of LawBite Clive Rich said: “The end of furlough and repayment of Covid loans is placing a significant strain on the cash flow of thousands of our SMEs. This is without even considering other challenges like Brexit, which also harms supply chains, cash flow and employment.”