Wiltshire Council has opened applications for Restart Grants – cash support for businesses operating in sectors including non-essential retail and hospitality (including personal care, pubs, leisure and hotels).

Business leaders have cautiously welcomed the prime minister’s plan for easing lockdown restrictions in England over the next few weeks and months.

Wiltshire business owners who want to find out what Covid-19 grants they might be entitled to are being urged to attend an online seminar by Wiltshire Council next week.

The government’s furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021 with the government continuing to contribute 80 percent towards wages.

We regularly hear about the benefits of lasting powers of attorney and their relevance in personal life, but all too often the importance of a lasting power of attorney for your business is overlooked.

However, just as an individual’s LPA – whether one for health and welfare, or for property and financial affairs – allows you to appoint attorneys to manage your affairs should you become incapacitated, a business lasting power of attorney offers the same protection to your business.

Eligible firms in Swindon that have been affected by national Covid-19 restrictions can now apply for the next set of government grants being processed by Swindon Borough Council.

More than £30 million has already been distributed to businesses on behalf of the Government and applications for the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) and the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) are now open.

Business owners and managers are being sought to join a mentoring scheme to support young people with employability and enterprise skills.

Sadie Sharp, founder of youth development firm The Platform Project based in Dorcan, Swindon, has launched the scheme at a time when job prospects for young people are shrinking.

Britain’s bosses are being warned by government that ‘time is running out’ to prepare for a no-deal Brexit at the end of the year – but business groups say the government is doing little to support them.

Anger spilled over following a hastily-arranged briefing to 250 business leaders by prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday.

Wiltshire Council has written to Wiltshire businesses thanking them for supporting their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic – and reminding them of the protocol following an outbreak at their premises.

“We know that it is a difficult period for many organisations and really appreciate the work that has taken place across Wiltshire to support our communities and the re-opening of the local economy,” says the joint letter from recently-appointed chief executive Terence Herbert and director of public health Kate Blackburn.

In just a few short weeks we have all become experts in physical health care. We now know how to clinically wash our hands, and we are careful to wipe surfaces and protect against cross-contamination with social distancing.

But what has this period done to our mental health? Across the country businesses have strived to find their place in the new world, a few have become incredibly busy, some have shut down completely.

Businesses are being asked to support NHS and care workers in Swindon and Wiltshire by providing personal protective equipment.

The equipment is needed to protect key workers who have – or may have – contracted coronavirus.

When it comes to life, there are two types of people – those who have everything mapped out right down to the last detail and those who don’t set any goals and see where life takes them. Neither outlook is wrong of course, and we are all different.

When it comes to business, however, just turning up every day with the mindset of ‘whatever happens, happens’ will mean you have little or no chance of growing.

The Church of England’s newly-formed official football team has found a main sponsor in a family-run funeral director’s business from Swindon.

The Archbishop of Canterbury FC, which is made up exclusively of priests, was founded by former Iranian international Pouya Heidari – now a curate in Sunderland – and is coached by Maurice Hepworth, who was part of Sunderland’s FA Cup-winning squad in 1973.