Business Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey questions: 6 April 2020 to 19 April 2020

These questions are from wave 3 of the Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey for the period 6 April to 19 April 2020. Respondents were asked to respond to the questions between 20 April and 3 May 2020 based on their experiences from 6 April to 19 April 2020.    

These questions relate to the analysis and data presented in the Coronavirus, the UK economy and society, faster indicators: 30 April 2020 release.

If you are a survey user and want to see the most up-to-date questions, see the Latest questions for the Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey page.

What is the current trading status of your business?

• Continuing to trade

• Has temporarily closed or paused trading

• Has permanently ceased trading

At the time of temporary closure or pause in trade, roughly what percentage of your business's workforce were furloughed or made redundant?

• Put on furlough leave

• Made redundant

• Other

When your business was still trading, where was most of its business activity carried out?

Where in the UK did your business carry out its business activity?

• England

• Scotland

• Wales

• Northern Ireland

• Not sure

Where in England did your business carry out its business activity?

• North West

• Yorkshire and The Humber

• East Midlands

• West Midlands

• East of England

• Greater London

• South East

• South West

• Not sure

Was the financial performance of your business within normal expectations in the last two weeks?

• Yes, it was within normal expectations

• No, it was outside of normal expectations

Was your business's turnover within its normal range in the last two weeks?

• Yes, turnover was within the normal range

• No, turnover was outside the normal range

In what way was your business's turnover different in the last two weeks?

• Increased by more than 50%  

• Increased between 20% and 50%  

• Increased by up to 20%  

• Decreased by up to 20%  

• Decreased between 20% and 50%  

• Decreased by more than 50%  

• Not sure 

What do you think were the main causes for your business's turnover being outside its normal range in the last two weeks?

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

• Other

Please explain in more detail why this affected your businesses turnover.

What are your expectations about your business's turnover in the next two weeks?

• Expect it to substantially increase

• Expect it to increase a little

• Expect it to stay the same

• Expect it to decrease a little

• Expect it to substantially decrease

• Not sure

Has your business's exporting of goods or services been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the last two weeks?

• Yes, exporting was affected

• No, exporting was not affected

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Please explain in more detail how your business's exporting has been affected.

What are your expectations about your business's exporting of goods or services in the next two weeks?

• It will get much harder

• It will get a little harder

• It will stay the same

• It will get a little easier

• It will get much easier

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Was your business's importing of materials, goods or services affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the last two weeks?

• Yes, importing was affected

• No, importing was not affected

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Please explain in more detail how your business's importing has been affected.

What are your expectations about your business's importing of materials, goods or services in the next two weeks?

• It will get much harder

• It will get a little harder

• It will stay the same

• It will get a little easier

• It will get much easier

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Was your business able to get the materials, goods or services it needed from within the UK in the last two weeks?

• Yes, we have been able to get what we needed

• Yes, but we have had to change suppliers or find alternative solutions

• No, we have not been able to get the materials, goods or services we needed

• Not applicable

Please explain why your business was not able to get the materials, goods or services needed.

Where does your business carry out most of its business activity?

• UK

• Outside of the UK

• Difficult to say

Where in the UK does your business carry out its business activity?

• England

• Scotland

• Wales

• Northern Ireland

• Difficult to say

Where in England does your business carry out its business activity?

• North West

• Yorkshire and The Humber

• East Midlands

• West Midlands

• East of England

• Greater London

• South East

• South West

• Difficult to say

How did the prices of materials, goods or services bought by your business change in the last two weeks, compared with normal price fluctuations?

• Prices increased more than normal

• Prices decreased more than normal

• Some prices increased; some prices decreased

• Prices did not change any more than normal

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Please give more details about the prices of materials, goods or services that changed.

What are your expectations about changes in prices of materials, goods or services that your business needs for the next two weeks?

• Expect prices to generally increase

• Expect prices to generally decrease

• Expect prices not to change

• Not sure

• Not applicable

How did the prices of goods or services sold by your business change in the last two weeks, compared with normal fluctuations?

• Prices increased more than normal

• Prices decreased more than normal

• Some prices increased

• Some prices decreased

• Prices did not change any more than normal

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Please give more details about how prices changed.

What are your expectations about prices of goods or services that your business will sell over the next two weeks?

• Prices will generally increase              

• Prices will generally decrease

• Prices will stay the same

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Has your business's ability to access financial resources changed in the last two weeks?

• Yes, access to finance has increased

• Yes, access to finance has decreased

• No, access to finance has stayed the same

• Not sure

Has your business applied for any of the following initiatives?

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

• Business rates holiday

• Deferring VAT payments

• The HMRC Time to Pay Scheme

• Government-funded small businesses grant or loan schemes

• Accredited finance agreements

• We have not applied for any of these initiatives

Of the initiatives applied for, which has your business received?

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

• Business rates holiday

• Deferring VAT payments

• The HMRC Time to Pay Scheme

• Government-funded small businesses grant or loan schemes

• Accredited finance agreements

• We have not received any that we applied for

Please describe your experience of applying for these initiatives.

Is your business intending to apply for any of the following initiatives?

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

• Business rates holiday

• Deferring VAT payments

• The HMRC Time to Pay Scheme

• Government-funded small businesses grant or loan schemes

• Accredited finance agreements

• None of the above

Please describe any other support from government that you think could help your business.

How confident are you that your business has the financial resources to continue operating throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak?

• Confident

• Not confident

• Do not know yet

Was the business's workforce able to meet the demands of the business in the last two weeks?

• Yes, the workforce could meet the business's demands

• No, the workforce could not meet the business's demands

• Not sure

Which of the following measures has the business taken to cope with the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on your workforce?

• Increased working hours

• Decreased working hours

• Laying off staff in the short term

• Recruiting staff for the short term

• Other (please describe)

• No measures have been taken

In the last two weeks, roughly what proportion of your business's workforce was doing each of the following?

• Working at their normal place of work 

• Working remotely instead of at their normal place of work

• Other

In the last two weeks, roughly what proportion of your business's workforce was furloughed, off sick due to coronavirus or made redundant?

• On furlough leave

• Off sick or in self-isolation due to coronavirus (COVID-19) with statutory or company pay

• Made redundant

• Working as normal

• Other

Do you expect your business's workforce size to change over the next two weeks due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak?

• Expect workforce size to increase

• Expect workforce size to decrease

• Expect workforce size to stay the same

• Not sure

Were there any other unexpected changes to financial or operational activities for your business in the last two weeks?

• Yes, there were other unexpected changes

• No, there were no other unexpected changes 

Please give more details about any other unexpected changes to financial or operational activities.

Are you expecting any other financial and/or operational activities at your business to be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak over the next two weeks?

• Yes, I expect other financial and/or operational activities to be affected

• No, I do not expect any other financial and/or operational activities to be affected

Please give more details about what other financial and/or operational activities at your business you think will be affected in the next two weeks.

If applicable, why do you think your business will not have any other issues due to coronavirus (COVID-19) over the next two weeks?

Let us know anything else that you think may help us understand the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on your business.