It is hard, whatever your political bias, to fail to be impressed by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. He delivers his message with calm reassurance and gives the impression that he really does care.
His Summer Statement focussed on a number of quick wins, many of which had been previously trailed but also delivered a couple of surprises. The cutting of VAT on leisure and hospitality to 5% was more than I expected but the real show stealer for me was the Job Retention Bonus.
As ever with the COVID-19 era legislation there is much still to be announced with details promised before the end of July but in essence there is a further grant of £1,000 being made available to employers for each employee brought back off furlough and retained until January 2021.
The key question in my mind at present is whether employees already back from furlough will be eligible or if it will just apply to those on furlough on the date of the announcement. This point needs to be clarified quickly to avoid employers delaying bringing back employees for fear of losing their eligibility to the grant.
Keep checking back on this page, I’ll update as more details are announced.
