HMRC sees massive demand for UK's Cornonavirus Job Retention Scheme

The system is designed to process up to 450,000 applications an hour

More than 140,000 firms in Britain have applied so far for the government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which went live on Monday.

The scheme allows British companies to apply for a grant to cover up to 80 per cent of a furloughed employee's wages, or £2,500 a month, whichever is lower.

Any UK firm with employees can apply for the grant provided they had set up a payroll scheme before 28^th February 2020. Employers will pay their employees each month and then reclaim the money from HM Revenue and Customs online.

Speaking at the Downing Street press briefing on Monday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that the grants would help to pay the salaries of more than a million people.

The system is designed to process up to 450,000 applications an hour, and employers can expect to receive the money within six working days of making an application, the government says.

Web-chat services and phone lines are currently available to help answer applicants' questions.

"People have come out of retirement, put aside their normal duties, and worked around the clock, from their kitchen tables and spare rooms, to get this new system up and running," Sunak said.

"This remarkable story of public service reminds us how many different people are playing a role in this crisis - and I'm very grateful to all of them, for everything they've done."

Sunak said that the primary aim of all new schemes being launched by the government is to "maintain as many people as possible in their existing jobs; to support viable businesses to stay afloat; and to protect the incomes of the self-employed to allow them to trade again."

Earlier on Friday, Mr Sunak announced that the government had decided to extend the CJRS until the end of June.

HMRC CEO Jim Harra told the BBC the system received 67,000 job claims from companies in first 30 minutes after going live at 08:00 on Monday.

"We have scaled our IT system to cope with the maximum number of claims that we could receive - there are well over two million Pay-As-You-Earn schemes and our system is big enough to handle a claim from every one of those," Harra said.

A recent study by Resolution Foundation found that the demand from employers for CJRS has been much higher than initially anticipated.

On Monday, the government also launched two schemes worth £1.25 billion to support innovative firms in Britain.

As part of the initiative, the government will launch a new Future Fund worth £500 million to ensure that high growth firms across Britain have access to the investment they need during current economic crisis.

The government also launching a separate scheme to offer £750 million of grant and loan funding to thousands of innovative firms in various sectors and regions across the country.