About Eirlys Jones

Eirlys is the Commercial Director at North Wales Tourism and can be contacted at eirlys.jones@gonorthwales.org.uk or connect with her on LinkedIn you can also follow her on Twitter @EirlysJones5

Guidance for Holiday Accommodation Businesses

The Welsh Government’s new regulations now state that all accommodation providers should close and are to remain in force until further notice. Businesses wanting to offer accommodation to key workers must get permission from their Local Authority to do so. https://gov.wales/coronavirus-guidance-holiday-accommodation-businesses?fbclid=IwAR15YFAkuWdysBezDCpOhA9bk4wUnhlQ85yudp1MGDqYiISAC7E8iR3KSM8

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

HMRC have released further details about how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will work:   ·         The scheme is to avoid employees being made redundant. ·         It only applies to employees that are furloughed (employees on leave of absence). This means the employee must do no work, or generate any income, for the employer. ·         Employers do not have to operate this scheme. Employers can choose to carry on paying their furloughed employees or can choose to make them redundant. If an employee is made redundant the employer may have to pay redundancy and pay-in-lieu of notice. There is no government funding for either of these. In these circumstances it […]

Agents summary of business conditions – 2020 Q1

The Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has caused a sudden, rapid decline in economic activity in recent weeks. The situation has been described by many Agency contacts as being worse than the financial crisis in 2008. Due to fast-moving developments since the outbreak of the virus, this publication focuses on intelligence gathered by the Bank’s Agents during the first few weeks of March. Prior to that point, companies had generally reported some modest improvement in some parts of the economy and the outlook. That is reflected in the Agents’ scores released alongside this publication, which are based on information gathered during January and February. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/agents-summary/2020/2020-q1

NWT Members A helpful summary

Please see below a summary of key reliefs and provisions announced so far…. INDIVIDUALS & SELF-EMPLOYED   1.      Universal Credit and other benefits Self-employed may be able to claim Universal Credit if their business has temporarily closed.  Universal Credit standard allowance – the amount you’re paid each month – increased by £1,000 a year.  The current Universal Credit standard allowance ranges between £251.77 and £498.89 depending on your age and circumstances.  You may be able to claim Universal Credit if certain conditions apply.    Self-employed Universal Credit minimum income floor suspended for everyone affected by coronavirus.  The Universal Credit minimum income floor applies to those who’ve been self-employed for more […]

Message from the Chair

Dear Members, I hope you are well and coping in this difficult situation; the industry has really pulled together and there has been lots of lobbying to elected representatives cross-party to ensure the voice of our industry is heard. The announcements from the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer were extremely positive last week, and I am assured that further assistance will be announced tomorrow for help with the self-employed as many of you may be. I attach a response from Ken Skates, Welsh Government Minister of Economy, regarding his approach to financial solutions to the issues within our industry. There are some direct links on this letter to Welsh Government […]

Summary of Useful websites

A full range of business support measures have been made available to UK businesses and employees, including: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan SchemeBusiness Rates Holiday for Retail, Hospitality and LeisureStatutory Sick Pay SupportTime to PayCOVID-19 Corporate Financing FacilityVAT DeferralIncome Tax Deferral for the Self-EmployedCoronavirus Job Retention Scheme Government Support to Businesses On 20th March, HM Treasury announced a further series of measures to support people, jobs and businesses. This includes a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which will allow employers to continue paying up to 80% of furloughed workers pay costs to a maximum of £2,500 per month and deferring VAT and Income Tax payments. All UK businesses, including those in Wales […]