Two thirds of firms have furloughed staff

Around one in three British businesses has furloughed between 75% and 100% of its workforce due to the coronavirus crisis, according to a new survey.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also found two-thirds of those questioned said they had put some staff on the furlough scheme, which covers 80% of salaries up to £2,500 a month.

But just 2% of firms surveyed said they had successfully accessed the Government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) – announced by Chancellor Rishe Sunak – and concerns are being raised that businesses still need access to cash for wages.

BCC director general Dr Adam Marshall said: "Businesses on the front line need cash to start flowing from support schemes fast.

"With April's payday coming up, we are fast approaching a crunch point, and both the furlough scheme and CBILS facilities need to be accelerated.

"It is essential that the Job Retention Scheme makes payments to businesses as soon as possible. Any delay could mean more livelihoods under threat, more business failures, and more hardship in our communities."

Last week, the BCC found that 71% of respondents said they intended to furlough staff at some point.

A Treasury spokeswoman said: "We've been taking unprecedented action at unprecedented speed to help businesses, jobs and our economy during this crisis.

"Our jobs retention scheme is ensuring people are able to stay employed during the outbreak and approvals for our business interruption loan scheme has shown an eightfold increase in the last two weeks.”