Self-employed people 'are being left in the dark'

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has dramatically changed course by extending the furlough scheme until the end of March and pledging
more generous help for self-employed people.

Support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be increased, with the third grant covering November
to January calculated at 80% of average trading profits, up to a maximum of £7,500.

But not everyone has welcomed the new measures. While some see them as a lifeline, others are dismayed that they fail to qualify
for much-needed assistance.

Nick Rewcastle, of Peacehaven in Sussex, is one of the latter. Before the pandemic struck, he was head of the communications
team at Harlequins Rugby Club.

He spent three months on furlough before being made redundant, then decided to strike out on his own by founding his own sports
PR consultancy, NRPR.

"The fact that I'm newly self-employed means I don't qualify for any support," he told the BBC.

"I've managed to find a few clients and that's keeping me busy until mid-December, but then in January it's looking pretty scary.

"I'm doing my own thing and it's brilliant, but as far as the government is concerned, they don't care.

"It's disappointing. It doesn't make sense that people like me are being left in the dark."

Mr Rewcastle is unimpressed by Mr Sunak's assurance that anyone made redundant after 23 September can be rehired and put
back on furlough.

"Harlequins aren't in a position to take anyone back," he says.

"He's saying all these people can go back into work, but businesses are so unstable at the moment, people who've been made
redundant are going to stay redundant."

Greg Wilson, 35, of Wells in Somerset, has managed to qualify for some support, although his income has taken a hit from
the pandemic.

He is the owner and director of a "one-man band" company, Chew Valley Generators, which supplies electricity to weddings and
other events.

He would normally service about 120 events a year, but that fell to just six this year. As a result, he took the decision to furlough
himself.

"Furlough has been a lifesaver for myself and my small company, as we missed every other grant," he told the BBC.

'Head above water'
Jewellery designer Sarah Herriot, 58, also runs her one-woman set-up as a limited company, but decided that furloughing herself
would be bad for her business in the long term.

"I've been working six days a week trying to keep my business afloat," she told the BBC. "I've worked very hard at it and to be fair,
I've managed to keep my head above water."

Before the onset of coronavirus, she mainly sold her jewellery at shows and fairs, but these have all been cancelled, so she is now
left with her website.

"That's not really working, so I've been surviving on commissions and bits and pieces of work," she says.

The only support she has received is a local discretionary business grant from Camden council in London, because she was able to
demonstrate that she had lost 70% of her income during the pandemic.

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