Wales to enter "Fire Break" lockdown

News 20 Oct 2020

Wales is to enter a national lockdown from 6pm 23 November 2020


The First Minister has announced that Wales will go into a short, sharp national lockdown to curb the rise of coronavirus across the country. This lockdown will require people to stay at home wherever possible during the period of 6pm on 23rd October – 9th November. People are allowed to travel to work where they cannot work from home during this time. The following businesses will be required to close:

  • Non-essential retail
  • Tourism
  • Hospitality (hospitality businesses can operate as takeaways only)
  • Leisure

Welsh Government has announced that financial support will be available for the businesses affected by the lockdown. All firms that receive Small Business Rates Relief will be eligible for a grant of £1000, and all firms ordered to close will be entitled to up to £5000.

This will be administered in a similar way to the business rates grant funding the firms accessed earlier in the year. Welsh Government are currently finalising the details of how this will be made available, and we will inform businesses of the details as soon as possible.

Businesses will also be eligible for support from UK Government during this period such as the Job Retention Scheme, Job Support Scheme and self-employed income support scheme. You can find more details on these schemes in our funding guide.

FAQs on the fire break lockdown can be found here: https://gov.wales/coronavirus-firebreak-frequently-asked-questions

FSB Wales is working intensely to ensure that businesses are supported as much as possible during this time. If you have questions that are not answered in the FAQs document please do feel free to contact us on [email protected] and we will do our very best to get an answer for you.