Webinars coming up:
Pandemic Insurance & How Do You Go About Making A Claim -
Wednesday 24th February from 9:00am to 10:00am - https://bit.ly/3cnMAdR

Join CPG for this informal networking event to help you get set up to create the success that you want in your business in 2021! Surround yourself with local successful entrepreneurs to boost conversation, improve your thinking and explore opportunities to collaborate.

The experts this month will be David Anthony and John Abbott.
Local Chambers Networking

Thursday, 4th March 10:00am - 11:30am

Cost:
Members- £10 per person
Non-Members – £15 per person

A great way to hear what Chambers are doing across a wider local area to support businesses and most importantly a way to grow your network and do more business.
These events are always popular so book early to guarantee your place.
We, as a key stakeholder member of London’s Local Chambers, are signatures of a letter to the Chancellor calling for a rescue plan to be financed for London’s recovery as reported in the Standard
 
Join Budget Question Time next week and have your say

Residents, local businesses, and community groups will have a chance to quiz Hounslow Council Cabinet members about the Council's budget proposals during a virtual Question Time event on Thursday 25 February at 6pm.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Steve Curran, will be joined by Cllrs Lily Bath, Deputy Leader of the Council, , Shantanu Rajawat, Lead Member for Finance and Corporate Services and Candice Atterton, Lead Member for Adults, Social Care & Health, to answer questions about the proposed budget for 2021/22.

The event will be held on Microsoft Teams and to attend the event on the day please click on this link. In case of any problems accessing the link please read the detailed instructions.
Financial support schemes

More information on the financial support schemes available to help you through the COVID-19 pandemic, including updates on deferring VAT and claiming for furloughed staff through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

  1. VAT deferral new payment scheme – join from 23 February
  2. January CJRS claims
  3. You can now make February CJRS claims
  4. Publishing information about your CJRS claims
  5. Frequently asked questions about the CJRS
  6. Where can I get further support?
  7. Protect yourself from scams
VAT deferral new payment scheme – join from 23‌‌ February

If you deferred paying VAT due in the period from 20‌‌ March to 30‌‌ June‌‌ 2020, you should pay it by 31‌‌ ‌March‌‌ ‌2021 if you can.

If you can’t afford to pay by 31‌‌ March‌‌ 2021, you can join the VAT deferral new payment scheme and pay your deferred VAT over a longer period.

The online service will open on 23‌‌ February‌‌ 2021 and close on 21‌‌ June‌‌ 2021. You can make up to 11 monthly instalments, interest free. The earlier you join, the more months you can spread your payments across.

You can join the scheme online without the need to call – search 'Pay deferred VAT' on GOV‌.UK for more information and to join quickly and simply online when the scheme opens.

If you need more time, please contact us – go to GOV‌.UK and search 'if you cannot pay your tax bill on time'.
January CJRS claims

Thank you if you submitted your January claim by the deadline of 15‌‌‌‌ February.

If you didn’t, we may still accept it if you have a reasonable excuse for not claiming by the deadline, such as you were self-isolating (and no-one else could make the claim for you) or had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from completing it.

If your reason means you can apply to claim late, please do so as soon as you’re able to. For more information on reasonable excuses, go to GOV‌‌.UK and search 'claim for wages'.

You can now make February CJRS claims

You can now submit your claims for periods in February. These must be made by Monday‌‌ ‌15 March.

You can claim before, during or after you process your payroll. If you can, it’s best to make a claim once you’re sure of the exact number of hours your employees will work so you don’t have to amend your claim later.

Check if you and your employees are eligible and work out how much you can claim using our CJRS calculator and examples, by searching 'Job Retention Scheme' on GOV‌‌‌‌‌.UK.

What you need to do now

  1. If you haven’t submitted your claim for January but believe that you have a reasonable excuse for missing the deadline, check if you can make a late claim by searching 'claim for wages' on GOV‌‌‌‌.UK.
  2. Submit any claims for February no later than Monday‌‌ 15‌‌ March.
  3. Keep records that support the amount of CJRS grants you claim, in case HMRC needs to check them. ‌

Publishing information about your CJRS claims

We are now publishing a monthly list of employers who claimed under the CJRS for periods from December onwards on GOV‌‌.UK, as part of HMRC’s commitment to transparency and to deter fraudulent claims. 

This will include (from 25‌‌ February) employer names, Company Registration Numbers (for those who have one) and banded amounts of how much the claim was for. This means your information may appear differently to the list of company names we published in January. We will not publish the exact amount of your claims, but rather the band within which your claims fall; for example £0-£10,000, £10,000-£25,000, or £25,000-£50,000. To find the full list of these bands, search 'Employers who have claimed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme' on GOV‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌.UK. The details we publish will not include information about your employees.

If you think publishing these details would result in a serious risk of violence or intimidation to you or others, you can request that details of your claims are not published. More details are given in our frequently asked questions below.

Your employees will also be able to check if you have made a CJRS claim on their behalf through their online Personal Tax Account (PTA) from 25‌‌ February. If they do not already have a PTA, they can set one up by going to GOV‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌.UK and searching 'Personal Tax Account: sign in or set up'. HMRC will not be able to provide any further details apart from those available in the PTA, so if your employees have any questions about the information shown in their PTA, they should speak to you as their employer in the first instance.
WLFS is a local secondary school, based in King St, Hammersmith, and the PTA is holding a fundraising auction and need your help. The school serves around 950 pupils aged 11-18 from the local area. It is non-selective, state funded, secular and has a diverse intake reflecting the local demographic. The PTA raises funds to provide educational enrichment to the pupils that attend the school and provides funding for facilities, resources and programmes that are not funded by the school budget from the government. The impact of our work is that it gives children the opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have, in particular the 38% who are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Mustafa Erdem, one of our Directors, was instrumental in setting up the school.

For more details click here
West London Local Chambers & Hounslow Chamber of Commerce are the primary support, networking, and representation organisation in west London for SMEs.

We support the interests, the commercial aspirations and the investment from businesses in Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham - the Chamber is the voice for all businesses located in the borough