Tag Archive for: Hospitality

New Financial Business Support for Coronavirus

 

The Government has announced additional support schemes for businesses most recently impacted by Coronavirus, which include:

  • One-off grants of up to £6,000 for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors
  • Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) for businesses affected by the pandemic but that are ineligible for existing support linked to business rates
  • Reintroduction of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS) for businesses with fewer than 250 employees, up to two weeks per employee
  • Discretionary funding will also be made available to support other businesses

Funding and grants will be administered by Merton Council. Information is available on their website, with additional details to be announced in the upcoming weeks here.

We know this is yet another difficult time for businesses, in what should otherwise be a robust trading period. Love Wimbledon is supporting the ‘Business Booster Campaign‘, calling on central Government to provide: business rates relief, an extension to VAT reduction and additional grants up to £15K for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.

Please do get in touch with the Love Wimbledon team if we can assist you in any way.

Plan B Guidance for the Hospitality Sector

Several changes have come into effect following the announcement of Plan B.

Covid Passes

From 15th December an NHS COVID pass is required for those aged 18 years or over to enter nightclubs, late-night dance venues and indoor events with 500 or more unseated attendees. This includes proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test in the last 48 hours or proof of exemption.

A toolkit with marketing resources for venues where proof of COVID status is mandatory for entry can be downloaded here.

Face Coverings

These are now required by law for customers and staff in various indoor settings, including:

  • Takeaway venues where there is no seating
  • Theatres and cinemas
  • Public areas in hotels where food and drink is not being consumed

Face coverings are not legally required in restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs although recommended in crowded indoor settings.

You can find the full Government Guidance for the hospitality sector here.

UKHospitality has provided helpful answers to Plan B FAQs, including how to perform a Covid-19 status check, keeping records and requirements for staff here.

Should you have any questions or require assistance please do get in touch with the Love Wimbledon team.

The Wimbledon Gift Card featured
on BBC London TV

 

The Wimbledon Gift Card has been featured on BBC London TV as having synergies with supporting the town centre throughout the Christmas shopping period. As the new work from home announcement came into effect on 13th December, it reported on the positive impact on Wimbledon Town Centre, including an interview with Elys, Wimbledon’s independent department store.

Love Wimbledon BID launched London’s first town centre gift card, ‘The Wimbledon Gift Card’, in late November to keep spending local and provide support to the high street businesses including theatres, shops, health & beauty and active enterprises in Wimbledon Town Centre.

www.wimbledongiftcard.com

Watch the video here.

 

For more information about The Wimbledon Gift Card or to register your business click here.

Bounce Back Better Campaign

 

Love Wimbledon is proud to support a campaign launched by Croydon BID “Bounce Back Better”, an extension of the Raise The Bar campaign, in order to call on the government to provide more support to retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in 2021/2022.

The campaign manifesto covers 4 main asks:

  1. One-off grant for retail, hospitality & leisure businesses
    Local Authorities lack the administrative and payments infrastructure required to facilitate a monthly financial support model proposed by government for eligible businesses in Tier 2 and Tier 3 – many businesses are receiving funds too late, or worse not at all. We ask Government to provide a one-off ‘Bounce Back’ grant of up to £15,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in Tier 2 and Tier 3 across England and Wales with a rateable value of up to and including £150,000. This would give 137,000 businesses vital funds delivered in a manner Local Authorities are equipped to distribute at a total maximum cost of £2.05bn
  2. Pause national insurance contributions for furloughed employees
    For the furlough scheme investment to date of £47m to be fully effective, business support must reflect short and long term challenges. While employees receive 80% of their salary through the extension of the furlough scheme, businesses are still paying out for National Insurance, placing greater strain on survival. We ask Government to remove the burden of National Insurance from employers whose staff are on furlough, saving the average business £2,000 per month until the end of March 2021.
  3. Extension of 100% business rates holiday for 2021/22
    The ‘payment holiday’ for hospitality, leisure and leisure businesses with a rateable value less than £51,000 earlier this year was an extraordinary and critical measure saving each business up to £25,000, a total tax cut worth over £1bn. We ask Government to extend the 100% business rates holiday into 2021/2022 for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Every pound saved is a pound to help businesses stay trading and retain staff.

  4. Extension of VAT reduction scheme
    The cut in VAT from 20% to 5% is a major boost for the hospitality sector enabling businesses to pass on a £4.1 billion saving onto consumers. With a vaccine becoming a reality in the coming months, our Bed and Breakfasts, hotels and restaurants could be a vital catalyst to local economic recovery. Research by CGA for UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association and the British Institute of Innkeeping found support on VAT and business rates are top of hospitality’s essential business support needs. We ask government to extend the VAT reduction to 5% for Hospitality from 1 April 2021 up to and including 31st March 2022.

To support retail, hospitality and leisure sectors – the beating heart of our economy, sign the petition here.

For more details visit the campaign website.

New Lockdown Grant Announced

Due to Lockdown 3, the Chancellor has announced today that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000.

The one-off top-up grants will be applied to closed businesses as follows:

  • £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
  • £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
  • £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000

A further £594 million is also being made available for Local Authorities to support other businesses not eligible for the grants, that might be affected by the restrictions. Businesses should apply to their Local Authorities.

For a full breakdown of financial support that is available to Wimbledon businesses through this pandemic, click here.

Further details of how this grant will be issued will be announced soon.

Click here for further details of this lockdown grant.