Covid 19 Business Support

Date Added: 29/09/2020

New laws for customer facing businesses

You’ll be aware that the government announced that from Thursday 24 September -
• Businesses selling food and drink must be closed by 10pm
• Food and drink must be ordered and served at a table
• Staff must wear face coverings when in close contact with customers
• Customers must wear face coverings except when eating and drinking

This is an addition to the “rule of six” which means that you shouldn’t allow groups of more than six to sit together at your premises unless they are all from the same household (or support bubble) further details can be found here. Another key part of controlling the spread of the virus is being able to trace people who have been in contact with someone who has later tested positive for Coronavirus. The NHS COVID-19 app allows people to ‘check-in’ to venues by scanning a QR code, this effectively creates a digital diary and helps the NHS trace individuals that may have Coronavirus.

As part of this, businesses may be legally required to display an official NHS QR code poster for visitors/customers to scan. You can request a QR code poster via the Government website to display here. If you are using your own QR system, we would encourage you to switch to the NHS Test and Trace QR code. You must also, by law, keep contact details of staff, visitors and customers as of Friday 18 September. So you must continue to maintain a register for those without the app. Full details can be found here.

The Winter Economy Plan announced

The Chancellor announced his new Winter Economy Plan in the House of Commons on Thursday 24 September:
• A new Jobs Support Scheme will be introduced from Sunday,1 November replacing the current furlough system.
• The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is to be extended for six months.
• He also announced changes to the various pandemic-related business loan schemes, more information is in the policy document.

SEMLEP’s Talkbook can start your business resilience conversation

The full impact of Covid-19 is unknown and comes while the UK looks to reposition its trading network and regulatory landscape following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. In order for businesses to recover from the impact of Covid-19, and to be resilient going forward we all need to navigate a wide range of issues, including Economic, Behavioural, Technology and Environment.

To help ensure businesses are able to survive the SEMLEP Growth Hub have created a toolkit for businesses in partnership with Grant Thornton to work through with one of their business advisers. Contact the team by registering your details.

New webinars launched to help your business

SEMLEP’s Growth Hub is a government-funded local business support service, providing information, advice and support to business directors.

The Growth Hub has established a series of webinars with more in depth advice on different aspects of running a business during the crisis. They are free to join and you can register your interest or contact the team by email or call 0300 01234 35.

Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce partner up to help local businesses access Kickstart Scheme

Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Wenta and Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce are working in partnership in order to become an 'intermediary' for small businesses to access the Government Kickstart Scheme.

The scheme is the latest business support initiative announced which will provide funding to employers in order to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds. You can register your interest for this scheme.

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