There appears to have been an increase in the number of businesses receiving government emergency funding, according to the latest Covid-19 survey from the Chamber of Commerce.

The organisation has carried out its third weekly business impact tracker survey of more than 400 companies contributing to the poll.

Highlights include:

50% of the respondents have applied for the Government’s business support scheme.

17% indicated that they were unsuccessful in meeting the criteria for any of the Government’s schemes.

40% of those who have applied for Government funding are now in receipt of the money which is an increase of 25% when compared to respondents from the previous week’s survey.

Chamber president Caren Pegg said: ‘We have to consider the fact that the polls are open to anyone, and the businesses that take part will vary each week – so we have to bear that in mind when trying to identify trends from one week to the next.

‘Having said that, there do appear to be some encouraging signs, including an apparent increase in the number of businesses now in receipt of government funding when compared to data in the previous week’s survey.

‘Looking ahead to the next survey it will be interesting to see if the changes to government guidelines regarding construction and related trades – which came into effect on Friday (April 24) – have any discernible impact on the views of respondents.’

The surveys serve as a barometer of the pandemic’s impact on businesses and the effectiveness of the government’s support measures.

The results of the third weekly poll conducted between April 17 and 23, are based on responses from businesses from a broad cross-section of sectors. 33% of respondents are self-employed and 47% represent SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) with up to 10 employees. 55% of participants have been in business for more than 10 years.

Here are some other headlines:

Cash flow

Cash flow remains a concern with 35% stating they have reserves for one to three months. 22% have one month.

Businesses furloughing employees or reducing workforce

Compared to the previous week’s survey, the number of businesses planning to offer temporary leave of absence has decreased by 15% to 35%.

Again, compared to the previous week’s survey, those planning to permanently reduce their workforce over the coming week was 16% - the previous week’s figure was 26%.

Business continuity

42% of the respondents expect to require the Government’s financial assistance at some point over the next three months.

19% expect they will require up to £10,000.