76% UK firms apply for COVID-19 job retention scheme

More than three-quarters of companies in Britain which took part in a survey by the country’s official statistics office have applied for the government’s emergency job retention scheme to help them through the coronavirus lockdown, reports Reuters.

Seventy-six percent of the companies which took part in the survey said they had applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Office for National Statistics said.

The previous fortnightly survey by the ONS showed 66% of companies which took part in the survey had applied for the scheme, which is the centrepiece of Britain’s attempts to soften the economic hit from its coronavirus lockdown.