English Teacher, Jill Burton has been nominated as a Huish Hero after volunteering at St Margaret’s Hospice in her spare time around her ongoing virtual teaching commitments. The Huish Hero initiative at Richard Huish College, in Taunton, celebrates those students and staff who are going above and beyond to support their community during the COVID-19 outbreak.  Having completed her training wi...

The Chancellor announced firms would be able to bring workers back from furlough part-time from July 1 and pay them for the hours worked. Employers would have to pay National Insurance and pension costs for furloughed staff from August, then from September they would have to pay 10% of furloughed staff wages and 20% from October. The scheme would cease at the end of October. The Chancellor also co...

Somerset Chamber Chief Executive Stephen Henagulph was interviewed by The Breeze South West radio station about the current business situation in the county and the importance of completing the current Quarterly Economic Survey, the largest independent business survey in the UK. Hear the interview here: https://www.thebreeze.com/somerset/news/local-news/survey-into-true-cost-of-lockdown-to-busin...

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s announcement on the phased reopening of the retail sector in England, related workplace guidance and enforcement powers, BCC Director General Adam Marshall said: "Clarity and guidance on plans for a phased reopening of the retail sector will be welcomed. “Businesses will be taking a safe, proportionate and risk-based approach to returning to work, in close c...

Businesses across Somerset are being urged to give five minutes of their time to provide policymakers with a true snapshot of the health of the county’s economy. Somerset Chamber of Commerce organises the county’s submissions for the British Chambers of Commerce’s national Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), the largest private sector survey of business sentiment in the UK. The results are cl...

Results from the latest British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Coronavirus Business Impact Tracker reveal that the majority of firms surveyed are in a position to partially restart operations as lockdown restrictions are eased.83 per cent of respondents report that they know some or a lot of details about government guidance on working safely 37 per cent of firms report they can imple...

The Government has announced the UK’s new MFN tariff regime, the UK Global Tariff (UKGT), which will replace the EU’s Common External Tariff on January 1, 2021 at the end of the Brexit transition period. The new regime cuts import duties on many products while protecting industries such as automotive and agriculture, as part of a shift towards global trade beyond Europe. Items like dishwash...

Somerset Chamber of Commerce members are being invited to take part in a trio of international trade webinars, which are being organised by the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC).  BMCC has three webinars coming up this month which are relevant to companies in the UK who have interest to explore the Malaysian market.  All the webinars are complimentary for all UK Chamber members.  ...

Results from the latest British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Coronavirus Business Impact Tracker reveal that firms are ready for a gradual reopening of the economy but will need continued, adaptable Government support during a phased return to work.  Over 70 per cent of respondents had furloughed a portion of their staffNearly three quarters of those firms had submitted a claim to the fu...

Somerset Chamber Chief Executive Stephen Henagulph has welcomed the Government's extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in an interview with BBC Somerset. If you missed it, click the link below to listen to the full interview:

The Bank of England has published its latest Monetary Policy Report and an interim Financial Stability Report. Together, they provide a scenario for the path of the UK economy in the light of Covid-19 and assess the financial system’s resilience to that scenario. The data shows that the current pandemic is drastically reducing jobs and incomes in the UK,  but that keeping interest rates low i...

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has welcomed the Government’s announcement to temporarily guarantee business-to-business transactions which are currently supported by Trade Credit Insurance. This will ensure the majority of insurance coverage will be maintained and will support supply chains and help businesses to trade with confidence as they can trust that they will be protected if a c...

The UK economy shrank at the fastest pace since the financial crisis in the first quarter of 2020 as coronavirus forced the country into lockdown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy contracted by 2% in the three months to March, following zero growth in the final quarter of 2019. The decline was driven by a record fall in March, and reflects just one full week of lockdown....

The Government has confirmed the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended to October, with no changes before the end of July. The Chancellor said the scheme would be made more flexible, apply to all regions and sectors and enable staff to return to work part-time. More details would be made available before the end of the month. Commenting on the announcement, British Chambers of Commer...

Commenting on the publication of the UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery plan and associated workplace guidance, BCC Director General Adam Marshall said: "This is a significant step forward in terms of the information available for businesses, who will now need to digest the detail. "The guidance signals big changes for the way that many businesses operate, and some firms will now need time to pl...