Three quarters of small businesses in Britain are using the government’s furlough scheme to pay workers they have temporarily laid off, a British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) survey has shown.
The BCC said almost none of its member firms had made staff permanently redundant. 76 per cent have claimed money from the government’s scheme, up from 71 per cent last week. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme pays 80 per cent of a furloughed employee’s wage up to £2,500 a month.
Echoing calls from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), BCC Director-General Adam Marshall called for the furlough scheme to run “well beyond” 30 June, when it is due to end. Chancellor Rishi Sunal has previously hinted the scheme will continue in some form after that date.
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