Tag Archive for Coronavirus

Hot Business News Today

How to reopen your restaurant, pub or hotel post-lockdown

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
UPDATED: Boris Johnson is expected to announce next week that the two-metre rule will be relaxed from July 4 and that pubs, restaurants, cafés and attractions can reopen post-lockdown.
For independent bars and eateries, the difference between the two-metre rule being enforced and one-metre social distancing is the difference between viability and the 2.8m hospitality staff currently on furlough not having a job to go back to, according to trade body UKHospitality.
The hospitality industry and the Government will also publish guidance next week as to how to reopen your restaurant, pub or hotel post-lockdown.
The guidance does however allow some flexibility rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, as seen in other business sectors.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, told the Today programme: “What we understand so far is that they are looking to reopen our businesses on July 4 with appropriate guidelines in place that will allow individual premises to undertake a detailed risk assessment and propose and put forward the control measures that they feel are necessary to keep their team and their guests safe.”
According to the draft post-lockdown hospitality sector guidance, obtained by The Times:
Pubs

Limits to the number of people allowed into pubs with markings

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Hot Business News Today

20% of small businesses can’t reopen with social distancing in place

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Social distancing rules are stopping a huge proportion of small businesses from reopening post lockdown.
A substantial 5.7m businesses closed at the height of the pandemic and a third are still shut. From those, one in five can’t reopen with the existing two-metre rule in place and those that can will be facing significant bills, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). A quarter expect to be forking out over £1,000 to meet the social distancing guidelines.
>See also: What is the average cost of fitting out my shop for coronavirus?
The FSB is calling on the chancellor to make some changes to help these small businesses, to boost the economy and to save jobs. One such measure is vouchers that will cover the cost of making workplaces safe. Others include tax cuts, better infrastructure and flexible repayments for businesses that incurred debt during lockdown. It’s being suggested that debt should be repaid in a student loan-style scheme.
On top of that, moves like cutting National Insurance would help employers bring staff back after furlough and contributing towards apprenticeship and training costs would encourage new hires.
FSB chairman, Mike Cherry, said: “Millions of small firms and sole

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Hot Business News Today

How to reopen your restaurant, pub or hotel post-lockdown

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
UPDATED: Boris Johnson is expected to announce next week that the two-metre rule will be relaxed from July 4 and that pubs, restaurants, cafés and attractions can reopen post-lockdown.
For independent bars and eateries, the difference between the two-metre rule being enforced and one-metre social distancing is the difference between viability and the 2.8m hospitality staff currently on furlough not having a job to go back to, according to trade body UKHospitality.
The hospitality industry and the Government will also publish guidance next week as to how to reopen your restaurant, pub or hotel post-lockdown.
The guidance does however allow some flexibility rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, as seen in other business sectors.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, told the Today programme: “What we understand so far is that they are looking to reopen our businesses on July 4 with appropriate guidelines in place that will allow individual premises to undertake a detailed risk assessment and propose and put forward the control measures that they feel are necessary to keep their team and their guests safe.”
According to the draft post-lockdown hospitality sector guidance, obtained by The Times:
Pubs

Limits to the number of people allowed into pubs with markings

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Landlords blocked from evicting small businesses for another three months

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government has blocked commercial landlords from evicting small businesses from shops and other premises for another three months until end-September.
The U-turn will come as a huge relief for small businesses struggling to pay rent as businesses reopen post lockdown to uncertain, if non-existent, demand.
Up until yesterday, the draft voluntary code of practice being circulated made no mention of extending the original three-month moratorium on landlords repossessing premises and evicting tenants for non-payment of rent due to Covid-19.
>See also: How to ask for a commercial rent freeze from your landlord

The Government will amend the Coronavirus Act to extend the moratorium on evictions from June 30 to September 30, meaning no business will be forced out of their premises if they a miss a payment in the next three months.
Secondary legislation will prevent landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery unless they are owed 189 days of unpaid rent
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill will be amended, extending the temporary ban on the use of statutory demands and winding-up petitions where a company cannot pay its bills due to coronavirus until September 30

However, the draft code of practice encourages tenants to continue to pay their

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Hot Business News Today

Landlords blocked from evicting small businesses for another three months

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government has blocked commercial landlords from evicting small businesses from shops and other premises for another three months until end-September.
The U-turn will come as a huge relief for small businesses struggling to pay rent as businesses reopen post lockdown to uncertain, if non-existent, demand.
Up until yesterday, the draft voluntary code of practice being circulated made no mention of extending the original three-month moratorium on landlords repossessing premises and evicting tenants for non-payment of rent due to Covid-19.
>See also: How to ask for a commercial rent freeze from your landlord

The Government will amend the Coronavirus Act to extend the moratorium on evictions from June 30 to September 30, meaning no business will be forced out of their premises if they a miss a payment in the next three months.
Secondary legislation will prevent landlords using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery unless they are owed 189 days of unpaid rent
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill will be amended, extending the temporary ban on the use of statutory demands and winding-up petitions where a company cannot pay its bills due to coronavirus until September 30

However, the draft code of practice encourages tenants to continue to pay their

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How to start a freelance career in the UK – a beginner’s guide

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Originally written by Dave Chaplin on Small Business
As the UK economy recovers from the impact of coronavirus, now might be the perfect time to take the leap and go it alone in a new freelance career.
For risk-averse businesses in this current climate, the immediate access to key skills which freelancers provide presents a more economically viable recruitment solution than a permanent hire. If you possess an in-demand skillset, you are well placed to capitalise.
Though other key concerns include deciding upon a business model, registering with HMRC and enlisting an accountant, Chaplin advises on setting a contract rate, marketing yourself and finding work.
>See also: 7 tips on how to manage freelance workers remotely
Setting your contract rate
Setting a freelance contract rate in the UK is a careful balancing act. You want to establish a competitive rate that ensures you receive a good return for your efforts without risking pricing yourself out of the market.
There are useful sites online that share survey results of the standard rates that specific skills command.
However, while these sites provide useful guidelines, they don’t account for the combination of skills or the level of experience required. Therefore, you should create a baseline rate based on your current salary,

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MPs urge Government to do more to help self-employed through Covid-19

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
MPs have urged the Treasury to do more to help the 1m or more self-employed and others who have slipped through the cracks of coronavirus funding schemes.
Rishi Sunak is facing calls to “completely fulfil” his promise to do “whatever it takes” to support the economy after MPs concluded that many newly employed staff, self-employed workers, company directors and freelancers have been “locked out” of the Government emergency rescue package.
The Treasury select committee estimates that many hundreds of thousands of people have already endured several months of financial hardship “through no fault of their own”.
>See also: HSBC handling of bounce-back loans branded ‘shambles’ by businesses
Its report on the gaps in support for economic impact of coronavirus found that hundreds of thousands of people are missing out on support because they started new jobs after the cut-off date for qualifying.
Meanwhile, the self-employed income support scheme is not open to an estimated 225,000 people whose trading profits exceed a £50,000 cap. This includes many working in the creative industries whose earnings are just above the cap.
The SEISS also excludes hundreds of thousands of people who became self-employed too recently to have tax records, along with directors

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Only 10% of customers planning to go back to shops when they reopen

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Just 10 per cent of customers plan to go back to non-essential shops when they finally reopen on Monday, June 15.
Another 32 per cent of shoppers do plan to drift back to shops, just not right away, according to a new poll.
However, 37 per cent of customers are either planning to stay away from bricks-and-mortar shops, do all their shopping online, or are still undecided.
>See also: Tenants back to facing eviction for non-payment of rent as shops reopen
And 29 per cent of people say they plan to stay out of shops for some time, social distancing or not.
This latest poll makes depressing reading for independent retailers hoping to bounce back quickly having spent nearly three months shut due to coronavirus.
According to data platform Dynata, one third of those who plan to venture into shops would leave if social distancing measures are not followed.
And 42 per cent of Britons think it’s too early to reopen the High Street in England, with 16 to 34-year-olds believing that the Government has moved too quickly.
People in the South are more reluctant to return to the High Street than those in the North.
Of course, some independent retailers have

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Hot Business News Today

Tenants back to facing eviction for non-payment of rent as shops reopen

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: The Government appears unlikely to extend tenant protection from commercial landlords who want to evict them for non-payment of rent because of Covid-19.
The business department had given shops, pubs and restaurants three months of protection from eviction for non-payment of rent during the coronavirus lockdown.
But a draft code of practice seen by the Financial Times on how landlords should treat commercial tenants as small businesses emerge from lockdown makes no mention of extending the eviction grace period.
>See also: 4 ways small shops can reinvent themselves post coronavirus
Many businesses had assumed the current eviction suspension would be extended past June 24, the next rent quarter day.
If so, many businesses could find themselves forced out of commercial premises for non-payment of rent due to Covid-19.
Instead, the code, which is voluntary, states:

Tenants should pay rent if they can, even if only partially
Landlords who are in a position to show clemency should do so
Tenants should prioritise paying service charges before rents

James Daunt, chief executive of bookshop chain Waterstones, told the FT that what is needed is statutory protection for tenants from aggressive landlords.
Daunt said: “As soon as current protections expire, I think there will be some

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Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund – how it can help your business

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The government has launched the second round of applications for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund.
It’s for businesses that aren’t in the leisure, retail and hospitality industries. With the grant you can receive £25,000, £10,000 or any amount under £10,000.
Am I eligible for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund?
Your business must be based in England and you must have been trading since 11 March. You’ll  qualify if you occupy a property or part of a property which has a rateable value of below £51,000.
You should have relatively high ongoing costs and face significant financial impact because of coronavirus. People who have received support under the furlough scheme or the Self-employed Income Support Scheme can also apply, as long as they haven’t applied for this fund already.
To apply, you’ll need to provide evidence of fixed property costs plus evidence of a substantial loss of income because of coronavirus as well as proof that you’re a small or micro business.
Businesses that are in administration, insolvent or have received a striking-off notice won’t be eligible. You also can’t apply if you’ve had support from the Small Business Grant Fund; Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant; Fisheries Response

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