Countingup, the number one banking and accounting app in the UK, has  launched a free furlough calculator, acccessible at covid19.countingup.com, to  help small businesses impacted by coronavirus(Covid-19).  

The British Business Bank has announced that it has approved four new lenders for accreditation under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

Board evaluation and board development specialists Better Boards has secured a £250,000 equity investment from the Development Bank of Wales and £125,000 from a panel of four angel investors.

Better Boards was first established in 2014 by Dr Sabine Dembkowski in response to increasing regulation and compliance for Board Directors.  After five years of academic and market research, the business now utilises advanced software to provide evidence-based Board evaluations for Governing Boards and Executive Committees. With a portfolio spanning the FTSE 250 and 100, clients include Easyjet, National Grid and the Go-Ahead Group.

PeoplePerHour, the UK’s largest freelance marketplace, has been focused on helping support small businesses and self-employed freelancers for the last 12 years and in this time of crisis are now going further by pledging £10m to help this community.

Funding London – the Mayor of London's investment vehicle – is being supported by several iconic mentors.  Entrepreneurs and investors such as  Sukhendu Pal and Steve Garnett will offer support and guidance to investments in the two funds, the London Co-Investment Fund (LCIF) and the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF).

The Turnaround Management Association UK has appointed BTG Advisory partner Paul Davies as president of the association from January 2021.

LawBite, the UK's leading legal-tech platform, looks at some of the ways in which SMEs can help themselves to weather the current storm.  
  

BVA BDRC has published its latest quarterly SME Finance Monitor report. 

The Supply Register which is based in Stoke-on-Trent has secured a significant investment, 

Livingbridge investee company Brainlabs has made two investments in online marketing agency Distilled and US digital marketing specialist Hanapin, underlining its ambitious growth strategy. 

Yorkshire-based SME funding specialist One Stop Business Finance has completed a major investment programme at its HQ to increase office space and facilitate its projected growth in both personnel numbers and client deals during 2020.

The self-funded £100,000 capital programme at OBSF’s base, ‘The Cow Shed’ in Laytham near Pocklington, has boosted office space by 150%. which ensures it can accommodate additional team members in operational and management roles. Details of the new posts will be announced in the coming months, but the company is looking to boost the size of its team as the number of deals it is completing for clients UK-wide continues to grow.

Placed, a mobile recruitment matchmaking platform for the service industry, has received investment from two members of Henley Business Angels, contributing towards a funding round of £1.2m.

Placed functions through having companies sign up to their platform and display jobs, solving the recruitment problem so many of them face by matching them up with prospective candidates seeking jobs. The idea for Placed came from years of working in the hospitality industry and by addressing each company’s needs Placed has grown rapidly; over 2,000 brands have now signed up to Placed, from Park Plaza Hotels to ROKA Restaurants, Nando’s and many more together with a growing database of over 100,000 job seekers.