The BID has two vacancies in the national retail sector and one in the leisure / night time economy sector.

If you represent a business in the national retail sector or night time economy sector and would like the opportunity to make a real difference and add to what we have already achieved, please contact BID Operations Manager, Belinda Hunt on  07951 139306 or email her at belinda@cheltenhambid.co.uk, no later than Friday 16 October 2020.

The BID supplied external baskets and troughs of flowers to 21 individual businesses this summer as they continue to brighten up the town until mid-October 2020.

The BID worked with PHS Greenleaf, who supplied and set-up the flowers and UBICO, who have been watering the arrangements daily, with the aim of adding extra blooms to those provided by Cheltenham Borough Council in parks and gardens.

Blooms appeared along the High Street, The Promenade, Bennington Street, Cambray Place, Regent Street, Portland Street and Montpellier, including a major display across all the businesses in The Courtyard.

Among the businesses involved are House of Fraser at Cavendish House. General Manager, Clem Fraser said: “The beautiful flowers provided by Cheltenham BID both on The Promenade and in Regent street have certainly brightened up the town this summer and have given the customers something cheerful to comment on.  They look great and have been kept well-watered”

Some may have noticed the outstanding hanging baskets outside Barclays bank on the corner of Rodney Road, opposite John Lewis and Partners. We spoke with Jez Linley, Branch Manager who said: “When I look back at the last time I worked in Cheltenham which was around 20 years ago, one of my abiding memories was always how warm and welcoming the town looked. This was no more so than in the summer, when the floral displays adorned most shops looking to win the coveted ‘Cheltenham in Bloom’ title.

“This year has been a very challenging one, and especially for the community of retailers and shops workers who make Cheltenham that inviting place that shoppers want to visit.

“I was delighted when Cheltenham BID approached me as the Manager of Barclays in Cheltenham to see if they could place hanging baskets along the front of the building. They have been absolutely beautiful all summer and have made a huge difference to the way that both the Branch and the High Street have looked.

“We have had a number of wonderful comments about them and they have placed a bit of extra beauty into Cheltenham and a smile on the faces of those who visit”.

See BID in Bloom 2020 gallery here.

Brite Recruitment, Cheltenham’s independent recruitment agency based in Montpellier has been one of the lucky few who have managed to stay open throughout lockdown. Transforming into a fully remote business overnight has been a huge success for them as the four-strong team continue to work both remotely and safely from their office in Cheltenham.

Cheltenham BID’ s Digital and Communications Exec Maria Allebone interviewed, Karen Pollard Founder and Managing Director about how they have been doing the last couple of months.

MA: Why did Brite Recruitment choose Cheltenham?

KP: I lived in Cheltenham at the time. It made sense to start the business here as it’s a great place to be based both professionally and personally!

It’s great to be part of a town with so many independent businesses. Lockdown has made people realise how hard it is to run an independent business. The common difficulties we face make us closer as business owners.

MA:  What has been Brite Recruitment’s biggest success in the last four months?

KP: Despite the extremely difficult conditions, we have kept all the team permanently employed and have worked throughout lockdown. We’ve adjusted to working remotely well. It wasn’t easy, but our hard-work and dedication proves we are strong enough to get through when the times are tough. We’ve managed to recruit and place people in employment as well as gain new clients along the way.

MA: Have you found you have had to adapt your business more to online services rather than face to face? Has it worked?

KP: All interviews now take place via telephone or video call. Some of our clients are inviting candidates to face-to-face interviews at later stages, but new safety regulations have been put into place before they do this.

 It’s been strange to see the industry adapt and there are still struggles (e.g. technical difficulties, getting a true feel for the person’s persona etc.) but we believe it’s been a step in the right direction for recruitment.

 MA: And finally, what are you and your team most looking forward to?

 KP: It’s been a very challenging time, but we love what we do and are looking forward to seeing the market grow again. We pride ourselves on the high standard of service we provide no matter what the circumstance and continue to build long-lasting relationships with our clients and enjoy supporting their business growth. Whilst everyone is still adapting to the new world, we are optimistic about the future and will continue to remain positive!

Caribbean restaurant and bar, Turtle Bay, are welcoming guests back to their Cheltenham restaurant from the 23rd July. Bookings are now open for brunch, lunch, dinner or drinks. 

With overseas holidays off the agenda for most, the restaurant’s colourful and eclectic interior, beach shack bars, incredible rum cocktails, beautiful soul food and laid back reggae soundtrack provides a tropical escape on your doorstep.

Of course, there have been a few changes made at the restaurants, which have been operationally transformed to become COVID-secure destinations.

Measures in place in the restaurant for the safety of customers and teams include:

• Team Health Checks: 
  Daily health checks are in place before team members start their shift to ensure they are displaying no symptoms. Individual risk assessments are completed for each team member to ensure it is safe for them to return to work.

• Social Distancing:
  Tables are spaced in line with the 1m plus guidelines and teams will be observing this too.
• Screens:
  Customers can choose to have a Perspex screen fitted to the table – these can be requested on booking.
• Going cashless:
  Cash will not be taken to reduce risk, contactless payment is available
• App:
  An order & pay at table App is being trialled with a view to rolling out nationally later this month.
• Cleaning & hygiene: 
  Hand-sanitisers are available throughout the restaurant & a strict cleaning program will be taking place throughout the day, including frequent handwashing carried out by all team members.

• PPE:
  Is available for every team member if they choose to use this.
• Consolidated Menu:
  A pared-back menu will be in place for the time being to reduce waste and enable social distancing in the kitchen

The Turtle Bay grill is being fired up and most of the menu will be available. This includes their famous Jerk Chicken; Curry Goat; Beach Tapas for lazy grazing; and a huge array of vegan dishes and cocktails –  this is sunshine for the soul, right when it is needed most.

Hitting the legendary tropical cocktail collection is something likely to be on the agenda of many a Turtle Bay fan too – and the entire rum-based menu will be available at the restaurants from the 23rd July.  Plus, the legendary Happy Hour is back which means that the whole rainbow of rum cocktails including One Love, Reggae Rum Punch, Ting Ray and Marley Mojito are available 2-4-1 from the moment they open till 7pm and then again from 9.30pm until close in the evening.

The 23rd July also sees the return of Turtle Bay’s Bottomless Brunch (10am – 3pm daily). For £25pp, their gorgeous Caribbean brunch is served with unlimited choices from the whole tropical cocktail collection (or Red Stripe for those less keen on a cocktail) for two hours of laidback, island-style escapism.

If diners can’t get to the Bay, then the Bay will come to them, as Turtle Bay at Home will continue to bring a slice of island life into the houses of hungry jerk fans around the country. All the below restaurants will serve up their collection and delivery menu…which includes cocktails too. At-home diners can live their best island-style life in the comfort of their own kitchen/dining room/office/back garden/bedroom… anything goes!  Bespoke Caribbean takeaway feasts can be matched with incredible rum cocktails and a soundtrack of reggae specially curated by Turtle Bay through the restaurant’s Spotify channel. 

Kieran Woolf General Manager of Turtle Bay Cheltenham said: 

“At Turtle Bay, bringing the magic of the Caribbean to the table is what we do… I know these times have been incredibly tough for so many of our guests and our teams. But, as they say in the islands, storms don’t last forever.Now more than ever that sense of positivity and warmth will be a vital part of the Turtle Bay experience and we can’t wait to welcome our guests back to the restaurant. The Turtle Bay family has been working extraordinarily hard behind the scenes to ensure that the experience is a safe one, and we’d like to thank every team member, key worker and all of our guests, who have helped us on this journey.”

Guests can book now at the Cheltenham restaurant and bar. Places are strictly limited so it’s advisable to book soon for anyone wanting to experience the magic of the Caribbean this July and beyond. 

Ahead of non-essential retailers reopening on June 15, the BID held its latest ‘how to make sure you are safe to open’ business support call as part of its Back To Business campaign.

Bernadette Reed, Senior Environmental Health Officer at Cheltenham Borough Council talked to businesses about –1. How to make sure they were safe to reopen. The approach to ensuring safe working during the Covid pandemic

Bernadette is essentially one of the Officers responsible for advising and enforcing on food safety, health and safety and infectious disease legislation and good practice within the Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC). As an Environmental Health officer she was also given the relevant powers to enforce the recent ‘Restriction Regulations’ which required certain businesses and venues to close. These restrictions have been lifted gradually sector by sector since their introduction in March 2020 with the most recent amendment allowing non-essential retailers and some visitor attractions to open for business. There are eight sector specific business guides on how to make sure your business is ‘covid secure’ which can be found here and in particular, guidance for shops on how to work safely can be found here. This is a very novel situation and updates are being released on a regular basis. Theses guidance documents were revised on 15^th June and The BID and CBC recommend that businesses check for any changes which may affect them for example the recommended quarantine period for returned clothes etc for example now states 48hrs not 72hrs which businesses may wish to take account of.

Due to the difficult and uncertain times for businesses the key message from Bernadette regarding compliance was one of engagement and encouragement in the first instance with enforcement as a last resort for blatant breaches.

While reducing the transmission risks form COVID may be new to businesses the approach to controlling risks is not and the same systematic approach should be adopted for COVID as you would do for any other health and safety hazard, electricity, legionella and asbestos etc. The requirement to control the transmission of COVID within the workplace comes under long established health and safety legislation.

CBC have two officers, Bernadette and Sadie, who are authorised to advise and enforce Health and legislation including COVID security. They have been out and about this week and their priority is to help get businesses back up and running safely. Bernadette was pleased to see how hard businesses had been working so far to get things right including dialling in to the support call or contacting her directly for advice.

The challenge for the businesses now along with many others is to try and get COVID-secure, which is the condition of being able to trade and letting the public know that you will be trading safely. If the public can see that you have controls in place it will in turn encourage them to come into your business and shop. It is the businesses responsibility to do this and CBC is here to help them succeed.

Before reopening all businesses, or when businesses are allowed back in to their premises a risk assessment must be carried out – if a business needs assistance with how to conduct a risk assessment Bernadette can help and advise during these times. An important point is if you have five or less employees on site it does not have to be an actual written assessment, points can be verbally communicated, over five it is more difficult to communicate. Bernadette recommends however that all businesses regardless of size put pen to paper, even if it is just bullet points as this will help businesses to review the controls in these rapidly changing times. Businesses with more than five employees must document the findings of the assessment and there is excellent information on the HSE website here. 

Businesses with more than 50 employees are encouraged to put the findings of their assessments on their website. Bernadette wanted to stress that a risk assessment is not a document it is a process and what she sometimes finds is a business has a really good document on paper but it doesn’t translate to a good practice on the ground and conversely just because a document is a little inadequate or poor it doesn’t translate to bad practice. The two go hand in hand.

It is also important for a business to constantly reassess the practicalities of their controls and check they work. Once the business has stabilized then this monitoring can be scaled back. The simple measures are the most effective and if a business can demonstrate they have given due regard as to what measures are needed and can demonstrate they have been implemented then the enforcement officer will be happy. This may be done remotely or by a site spot visit as appropriate.

These are unique circumstances and Bernadette would ask businesses to try and push to be on the upper end of the COVID- compliance level. Sometimes what the what the public deem necessary is not necessarily what the law requires.

If any businesses have any questions or need that extra bit of help to become COVID -secure please email Bernadette direct at bernadette.reed@cheltenham.gov.uk

2.Social distancing and other practicalities

The BID has made 2 metre social distancing stickers available to all business for inside and outside of their businesses to help with queue management.

Kristan Tarr, Primark store manager, talked to businesses about how he had welcomed back his first colleagues through COVID-secure safety briefings which included reintroductions, new ways of working, physical changes to the store and updated controls at work, including first aid, deliveries and various equipment changes.

Primark are taking on extra precautions to help provide a safe environment in store, including social distancing protocols, hand sanitisers, perspex screens at tills and added store cleaning.

There will be limits on the number of customers who will be allowed in store at any one time to allow for the appropriate distance between customers and employees. A limited number of baskets will be available at the entrance to assist in managing customer quantity and contamination of the baskets. Clear signage and floor decals have been placed around the store across all three levels to guide customers.

Cheltenham BID 2 metre social distancing stickers will be placed outside of store to help manage the long queue with customers being guided to queue up North Street.

3.Will appointment-only work best for your business?

For very small businesses, professional services, and specific traders the BID highlighted the fact that appointment-only services could work well.

Sophie Scarrott, the owner of Keith Scarrott Shoes located on The Promenade, explained to the businesses that appointment-only will be the safest way to allow customers into her small high-class shoe shop. The fact that customers have taken the time to book an appointment in the first place means that they are more likely to buy products then and there. She can ask the customer pre-appointment what styles of shoes they are interested in, get them ready and, after they have tried them on, quarantine unwanted shoes for the recommended amount of time.

There is a free scheduling tool available on Facebook that allows businesses to set-up and manage appointments via their Facebook business page. The tool allows you to manage your appointments, lets customers find and book online and automatically reminds customers of their booking. Need help setting this up? Email maria@cheltenhambid.co.uk

 4.Marketing top tips

WHO?

Communication with employees, the public, direct, and current customers’ needs to be emphasised now more than ever.

WHAT do businesses need to communicate?

When you are planning to reopen? If you do not know yet produce an update

What changes you put in place to become COVID-secure

<Do you have social distancing measures in place?

<How many customers are you allowing into your business at one time?

<Are you supplying customers with hand sanitisers, till Perspex’s?

<COVID-secure posters and signs

What new services you are offering

<click and collect

<appointment-only

If your changing rooms are open

If you are now offering a refund service

If you have a quarantine system in place for products that have been touched and tried on

WHERE do businesses need to communicate their messages?

Website – blog/page/pop-up

Direct customer comms – email/phone/letters

Social media

Shop windows

Cheltenham BID’s Top Marketing tips for Getting Back to Business.

5.Q & A

The businesses asked a few questions which the BID team and Bernadette were able to answer.

Does the council have a list of businesses who are open and are due to open?

The BID has produced this list and are updating the information daily. The information has been shared with our partners including the town centre team, CBC, and Gloucestershire Police. The current non-editable list was shared with the businesses on the call.

What are the minimal legal requirements for a business to be COVID-secure?

The five main areas are: working from home where possible, the risk assessment section, social distancing, hand washing and where people cannot be 2m apart to manage transmission risk. For all sector specific guidance please see the updated Government guidance here.

Have there been any complaints so from the public?

The complaints heard have been about the behaviour of other shoppers getting to close to each other in businesses and not about businesses themselves not adhering to social distancing.

The businesses need to be making it clear where their customers must queue. With more businesses reopening, it is important for neighbours to be communicating with each other and working closely together to management outside queues.

Cheltenham BID had a sneak preview of the new COVID Secure Primark Cheltenham that is set to open on Monday June 15.

Primark Store Manager Kristan Tarr has said that they are taking on extra precautions to help provide a safe environment in store, including social distancing protocols, hand sanitiser, perspex screens at tills and added store cleaning.

There will be limits on the number of customers who will be allowed in store at any one time to allow for the appropriate distance in between customers and employees. A limited number of baskets will be available at the entrance to assist in managing customer quantity and contamination of the baskets. Clear signage and floor decals have been placed around the store across all three levels to guide customers.

Kristan further explained that staff will be trained as COVID Secure marshals dedicated to monitoring the entrance and exits, busy till points and reinforce in-store safety. Every second till will be closed to allow more space between customers and between employees and perspex screens have been installed.

Primark has bought both wall-mounted and floor-standing hand sanitiser stations, which will be at the entrance and throughout the store.

Primark Cheltenham has taken the decision to close their changing rooms and seating areas completely and offer customers a 28-day return policy on all purchases. All returned garments will be quarantined for 72 hours and there will no testers available within their makeup and beauty range.

The frequency of store cleaning will increase and only two customers will be allowed in a lift at one time. This will be clearing sign posted with a notice outside of the lifts and with two social distancing stickers in the lift itself – 2 metres apart.

Cheltenham BID 2 metre social distancing stickers will be placed outside of store to help manage the long queue with customers being guided to queue up North Street.

Kevan Blackadder, Director of Cheltenham BID, said: “I was so impressed with the preparations that have been made by Kristan and his team.

“The most important thing for a large store like this to get right first is that the staff feel confident about returning to work. If they aren’t, that will be conveyed to the customers and it will make for a difficult environment.

“I’m sure that when the customers return on Monday, they’ll not only feel as though they are being looked after when they arrive but that they will feel safe throughout.”

UPDATE: Tuesday June 9 call is now full – request the call link, ID and Password from Maria for the over flow call on Thursday June 11 at 2pm.

Headlines

Bernadette Reed
Senior Environmental Health Officer at Cheltenham Borough Council talks to us about –
1. How  to make sure you are safe to open
Cheltenham BID team explains –
2. How to keep your customers and staff safe
3.Social distancing and other practicalities
4.Will appointment-only work best for your business?
5.Marketing top tips
Q & A
6.Your asks of the BID

How? Zoom call 
Date: Tuesday 9 June
Time: 10am – 11am
How do I sign up? Request the call link, ID and Password from Maria.

After requesting to sign up please take a look at our Back to Business information for businesses.

2PIGS has been the alternative music venue in the heart of Cheltenham since the early nineties and continued to offer live music and non-mainstream club nights up until lockdown. A second business, Incom Gaming has grown inside the 2PIGS from trying to find usage of the space during the day. Through Nick Binding’s (co-owner of 2PIGS and Incom Gaming’s) love of miniature wargaming and board games, a gaming club was initiated which gained a lot of interest and grew into a Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS).  The space downstairs has turned in to a bi-functional business, where people would come to shop, play games and enjoy a drink during the day and evenings, then attend a gig and party by night. This in turn has created a symbiotic relationship within the building.

Both businesses stood out during these difficult times for their quick response in upping their national and local delivery services in supplying the general public with lockdown family games as well as adapting a night-time economy business in to a functioning e-commerce with a local drinks delivery service.

Cheltenham BID’s Maria Allebone, Digital and Communications Exec speaks with Nick Binding, co-owner of 2PIGS and Incom Gaming as they are named May BID Business of the Month.

MA: What was your first approach to a solution to keeping your businesses running during lockdown?

NB: Incom Gaming already existed as an online selling portal pre- lockdown at www.incomgaming.co.uk, so everything for that was already in place but we wanted to start selling our 2PIGS drinks in an attempt to keep some revenue coming in for that side of the business.

Luckily, we have a big social media presence with the 2PIGS, so we built a website for the new delivery service at www.2pigs-club.myshopify.com. We still continue to take orders in the week for Friday and Saturday deliveries.

MA: Tell us a bit more about Incom Gaming. How was business during lockdown?

NB: Other similar businesses to Incom Gaming had stopped trading at the beginning of lockdown but our online store stayed open and we carried on advertising on social media. People were finding us and realising we were still shipping, so our online sales went through the roof. Our delivery sales increased tenfold. We went from three to five parcels per day pre-lockdown to 50/60 orders per day during the height of lockdown. We offered a local delivery service as it was a way of supporting our local community during this difficult time. If you wanted to pay for postage you could but if you didn’t mind waiting a few days we would come and drop your parcel off to you. It seems logical if I was out making deliveries for Incom gaming, we could offer deliveries for the 2PIGS as well.

MA: When did you have the idea to start the 2PIGS drinks local delivery service?

NB: It was around three weeks into lockdown when we realised this was not going to be a short-term thing for the 2PIGS not being open. Even though Incom Gaming was doing well we had a lot of stock from the pub that could potentially go out date and then be worthless. We decided to sell the stock to keep some revenue coming in. As much as the Government grant came in quickly and we have had support from the Brewery, we still have insurance, rent, wages and other operational costs of running a venue need to be paid.

MA: Do you think lockdown will change the way that people shop in the future?

NB: It’s definitely changing it now but that is because of the implementation of the lockdown rules. The interesting one will be when the Government start to ease the social distancing rules. Will customers still consciously distance themselves or happily stand in a queue next to each other?  Will people still shop online shop as much or visit shops when they reopen? I don’t know. It has become the norm for customers to try to avoid going anywhere and getting close to anybody, so I see very disruptive shopping patterns until social distancing rules start to ease.

MA: How are your preparations going for your potential reopening?  

NB: We are looking at re-opening Incom Gaming as just a shop on June 15. We are not going to open seven days a week, we are still planning how many, and what days to open. We have done the maths on our square footage as to how many customers we can safely fit within our shop area and have created a designated area for people waiting in the shop. We are following government guidelines and using the gifted Cheltenham BID’s 2 metre social distancing stickers outside the venue, plus we are looking at signs and posters inside the shop too. The online shop has been so busy and with the news of all non-essential shops being able to open on June 15 we have to start playing catch-up to get back to opening. We have to re-stock all the shelves and complete a big clean of the venue. We have installed a hand sanitiser dispenser immediately on entry for customers to use on their way in and way out. We have more, but they are for when we can open more and when we can offer gaming within the pub. We feel the next stage will be that the 2PIGS operates as a ‘gaming pub’ until the night-time economy can open and we can offer live music and gigs again.

Gloucestershire Trading Standards are offering free advice until the end of August 2020. Normal price £250 per annum or £70 per hour.

Whether you are trading as a small family run business or an international company, Gloucestershire Trading Standards can help to ensure you clearly understand the legislative requirements related to your business activity, and can get the right advice to be able to meet those requirements.

All businesses are subject to Consumer Protection Law and in the current economic climate where time is money. Gloucestershire Trading Standards can help to make getting it right first time easier and therefore help your business to be fair, competitive and legal. We cover over 100 Acts of Parliament including those relating to general business, food, safety, weights and measures, animal health and animal feed.

This pack will help to explain the advice, support and guidance their experienced team can offer and the ways you can access straightforward information. They use a flexible modular approach so that you get information tailored to the requirements of your business.

Please ONLY email the team at this current time on tradingstandards@gloucestershire.gov.uk. They will ask you some questions about the nature of your organisation to ensure you get the right information for your needs. The charge will be completely FREE until the end of August 2020.

See Gloucestershire Trading Standards website as well as access to self information business advice sheets.

THE ONE STOP SHOP for all things recruitment in Gloucestershire has been announced as a partnership between Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership, GFirst LEP, The Growth Hub Network and GlosJobs.co.uk.

GFirst LEP CEO, David Owen said, “GFirst LEP are rapidly developing our plans and actions for a recovery that will help as many businesses and individuals as possible right across the county.  We’ve teamed up with GlosJobs to ensure that we can offer all things recruitment in a single place for Gloucestershire that will complement the work of businesses and agencies and ensure the best possible opportunity to match people, jobs, freelancing and volunteering.  GlosJobs have a great record of supporting the Gloucestershire business community and we’re delighted to be able to launch this service with them.”

In response to the recruitment challenges being faced by businesses in these difficult times, and to support individuals who may find themselves being made redundant during the Coronavirus pandemic, Glos Jobs are asking all their partners and the Gloucestershire business community, to list their current vacancies on www.GlosJobs.co.uk, so that the county has one central point for jobs available.

To celebrate the partnership, we are offering you a special freebie! Choose one of your current adverts or the next one you send in and they will highlight it free of charge for you. That is a saving of £15+vat and gives you lots of extra exposure!

Exciting plans to bring an ice rink and expanded Christmas Market to Cheltenham this winter were given the go-ahead today (May 28).

Cheltenham Borough Council’s planning committee unanimously approved Cheltenham BID’s plans this morning.

The ice rink will be sited on Imperial Gardens, in front of the Queen’s Hotel, and the Christmas Market will be expanded on to the pavements at the Long Gardens and on either side of The Promenade close to the ice rink.

The festive experience will be further enhanced with Cheltenham Trust giving a Christmas theme to the outdoor Imperial Garden Bar at Cheltenham Town Hall.

BID Director Kevan Blackadder said: “We are delighted that we have been given the go-ahead to improve Cheltenham as a Christmas destination, which will be so important on the back of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are aware that we will have to take further advice as to whether it will be safe to go-ahead with the ice rink with social distancing measures still likely to be in place. If that means it will be unsafe to proceed, we now know that we will be able to bring this eagerly-awaited attraction to the town next year.”

The ice rink operators will be 11^th Hour, who have run successful rinks across the country, including Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland last winter.

Like the Cardiff rink, the Cheltenham rink will be covered and so will be the only one in Gloucestershire to offer skating whatever the weather. The rink will have glass sides and a transparent roof.

Cheltenham BID will take over responsibility for running the Christmas Market from the borough council for the first time this year. The BID was keen to increase the size of the market to attract a wider range and higher quality of traders

After circulating an expression of interest, it has appointed a different operator, Market Place, to run the market in the new areas approved by councillors today. Market Place set up and developed famous Christmas Markets in other towns and cities across the UK including Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast, Bath and Exeter.

The market on the pedestrianised Promenade will be run by Cotswold Markets, the popular local operator, which already runs the twice-monthly Farmers Market and monthly Craft Market on the same site.

Planning committee member Councillor Rowena Hay said at the meeting: “This is incredibly important as part of our recovery strategy. The new market will link not only different parts of The Promenade but also link Montpellier to the town centre.

“The ice rink will have minimal impact on Imperial Gardens, as it only uses a small part of the gardens.”

Committee chairman Councillor Paul Baker said: “If you go to Bath, their Christmas Market is so impressive. I congratulate Cheltenham BID on upping our game as we need to compete not only with Gloucester but also with Bristol and Bath.”

Cheltenham Borough Council’s planning committee approved the BID’s plans for an ice rink in Imperial Gardens at a meeting last November.

However, due to on-going work at The Quadrangle, which is undergoing a multi-million-pound refurbishment, the original site planned for the rink within the gardens was not available, which led to the plans being reconsidered today.

Cheltenham BID today launches a four-pronged campaign to try to help ensure that businesses in the town are fully prepared when they can come out of coronavirus lockdown.

The Back to Business with Cheltenham BID campaign will see the BID sharing four focused guides that it is hoped will help businesses of all kinds both prepare for opening and ensure they are ready when the time comes to actually throw open their doors.

They are: First Steps to Getting Your Business Ready; Health and Safety Essentials; Top Marketing Tips and Benefits and Savings.

The First Steps toGetting Your Business Ready will be published today on the BID’s website and will be mailed directly to our businesses. It contains details on reviewing staff policies, getting premises prepared and how to ensure physical distancing is maintained inside and out.

It also includes a “Staying COVID-19 Secure in 2020” poster, which we hope businesses will display to reassure both customers and staff.

The other three guides will follow over the next three days.

BID Director Kevan Blackadder said: “This is a timely campaign following last night’s announcement by the Prime Minister that all retailers should be able to open on June 15.

“By following the advice in the four guides, our businesses should not only be safe for customers but also ready to hit the ground running with marketing advice to help improve their sales.

“It is not just a retail campaign, however, and we’re sure our hospitality, leisure and professional sector businesses will also be keen to follow the advice.”

Cheltenham BID has been helping essential businesses that have been open throughout the pandemic by providing stickers highlighting the two-metre social distancing measures. The BID will continue to supply the stickers to other businesses as they open in coming weeks.

National Cyber Security Centre guidance. Cyber security advice for small businesses adapting to new ways of working 

Many small business owners have reacted quickly to the constraints imposed by COVID-19, adjusting their ways of working to keep their business active. In many cases, this has meant placing greater reliance on digital technology.

National Cyber Security Centre’s new guidance package provides a concise resource that will help small businesses manage this transition safely and securely.

Reacting to COVID-19

This guidance has been created specifically to support small businesses who are relying more heavily on IT services to run their business, as a reaction to the COVID-19 lockdown. As always, they have worked closely with small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and trusted partners, to understand what help was needed from from.

The result is a guidance package which will help you gain a clear picture of your cyber security as it currently stands and plan any new measures you should put in place. Working through the advice should give you confidence that your online business is secured sensibly.

To keep the guidance as short and clear as possible, they have focused on just the most important topics, but we also link out to reliable sources of further information.

Getting cyber security right

You shouldn’t need a degree in computer science to run your small business securely. But, cyber security is complicated. If you don’t have all the IT skills yourself, it can be hard to know what to do – and when you’ve done enough.

Having good relationship with your IT service provider(s) will help massively with this. So they have identified and explained the key cyber security topics they think you should care about, so you can be sure you’re covering all the right bases.

As a good first step, you should have a clear understanding of what services you are using and who has responsibility for their security. This may entail talking with your providers. To help with this, ‘from physical to digital’ contains a list of topics and questions which will help you start a positive conversation.

These questions will also help you ensure that security is at the forefront of any new services you decide to take on as part of your shift to a more digital business model.

Other guidance and support

The NCSC has already published a number of other guides that may be helpful to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Home working guidance to support people who may be working from home for the first time
• Working from home securely, on personal IT (blog post) for those who don’t have work-issued IT
• Video conferencing for organisations for those who may be using video conferencing for the first time, or relying on it more than usual
• Response and recovery guide to help businesses think about how their business has changed recently, and may change again in future, and help them to prepare and respond as well as they can

The Cheltenham BID team have been making weekly trips in to the town centre to offer two-metre social distancing stickers to open and closed businesses in preparation for when the town starts to slowly re-open.

The town centre currently has around 30 businesses that are ‘open for business’, these include banks and building societies, pharmacies, food and drink retailers and food and drink businesses offering takeaways. The stickers have been placed outside on the pavement to help manage external queues as well as inside for internal social distancing.

Some of the banks/building societies to receive the stickers are Barclays, Coventry building society, Halifax, Leeds, Nationwide, Natwest, TSB and Virgin Money. Businesses offering takeaways such as Cafe Sarnie, John Gordon’s, Cheeseworks, Kibou Sushi, Mister’s, The Everest and The Find are all using our stickers to assist with social distancing measures as well as smaller independents such as CGT Lettings and Sales, Regency Dry Cleaners, Spa Kleen and Spa Pharmacy. See gallery.

Do you need social distancing stickers for when you re-open? Please contact info@cheltenhambid.co.uk

Planning for the next 90 days is vital for the local business owner. With the world changing so quickly it is important that you have a plan to allow you to stay focused, manage your time but also that gives you the flexibility to change with the world around you. 

Cheltenham BID’s most recent business support call was based around Business Growth Specialist Billy Smith preparing our business owners with a great plan that takes the panicking out of the new day to day. 

Billy, Managing Director of ActionCOACH Cheltenham, said: “It was a pleasure to get an opportunity to talk to so many local and committed business leaders.

“The financial recovery of the country will be fuelled by the success of the small business sector and we must do what we can to support it in these challenging times. Our team at ActionCOACH will continue to help in any way we can.”

Billy was the Managing Director of Endsleigh Financial for 24 years and has been helping businesses, large and small, to manage growth and brand development for more than 30 years. Billy offered free, expert guidance to our businesses, so they could understand and think about what changes they might need to make. .  

The advice covered practical help and processes that will move businesses forward immediately and advice on what businesses should concentrate on now to help them recover, re-build and adapt ready for a phased lockdown lift.  His formula on how to grow and look at the mastery of TIME, MONEY and DELIVERY of product as well as helping with a step towards creating the 90-day plan to hold our businesses through this time was presented alongside an invite to a free one hour 1 -2-1 coaching session. See slides.

Key takeaways – businesses need to be thinking about

1.Vision and mission

2.Products and services

3.multichannel marketing and selling – It is safer and costs less to test and trail products online than it does in-store. You can gain real time data and gain key information about your key online customers. TIP -Keep your three top selling products stocked up and market proven products to increase revenue. Need help to create your online audiences? Contact maria@cheltenhambid.co.uk

4.Collateral prep -Prepare video and image contact to push out through your online channels. Need help with video? Contact maria@cheltenhambid.co.uk

5.People plan – Clean customer data, communication strategy – a way to collect contact details and permission to contact your customers. Staff development plan.

6.Personal development – online courses for yourself , courses for your staff.

Business owners asked questions around the difficulties of feeling alone and stuck as they had furloughed all their staff and cannot financially bring them back to work on marketing plans or 6 month cash flows. Billy offered 1-2-1 sessions in response to the concerns as each business model is different and he would need to know all variables.

BOOK – Billy’s Free coaching sessions.

ActionCOACH which will help you think about:

What can I afford to put on hold?

What can I not afford to stop doing to make sure I am still a presence when this is over? What do I need to do to adapt?

What is my cashflow like for six months in the worst-case scenario?

What are my team doing?

How am I communicating with people in my business and suppliers to my business?

Who needs my service now more than they did before? 

How do I come out of this stronger than I went in?

How can I create a 3/4 week business plan?

• 54,6381 businesses across England and Wales are currently unable to access the £25,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant [RHLG] according the #RaiseTheBar campaign

• ‘Discretionary fund’ to Local Authorities falls short of £748m to help businesses in need. #RaiseTheBar has calculated a total of £1.365bn is needed to support all 54,638 businesses in need2

• High Street businesses face eight-week countdown until due date for quarterly rent on 24 June, meaning action is needed now to allow more businesses access to the RHLG grant

• 86 Conservative MPs have signed a letter to the Chancellor calling for the rateable value threshold to be increased for the RHLG grant

• Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP has raised the #RaiseTheBar ask to the Treasury following local concern in Esher and Walton

• Visit www.raisethebarcampaign.co.uk for more information

UK High Streets are on the brink of collapse as the eight-week countdown to the next quarterly rent instalment begins today, according to the #RaiseTheBar campaign.

Figures released today show 54,638 businesses from pubs to shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, galleries and gyms are currently unable to access the £25,000 RHLG grant due to their business rates valuation falling between £51,000 – £150,000.

In the Cheltenham BID zone alone, there are 149 businesses missing out on the grants because of their rateable value being above £51,000.

Plans for a £617m discretionary fund announced by Government on May 2 do not go far enough according to industry bodies, associations and business owners across the UK, with no guarantees local authorities will issue relief.

The Government has made clear that this fund is for specific purposes, none of which support businesses with a rateable value between £51,000 to £150,000. The #RaiseTheBar campaign estimates

a maximum of £1.365bn in Government support is needed to enable the RHLG grant to support all 54,638 businesses falling within a business rates threshold of £51,000 to £150,000.

The #RaiseTheBar campaign believes access to the £25,000 is the difference between survival and bankruptcy for some businesses on High Streets across England and Wales, which have welcomed an outpouring of support from the public during lockdown choosing to support their local communities.

The grant will enable businesses to mitigate significant stock losses and cashflow challenges, including rent, that wage subsidies do not address. Many businesses are not in a position to take on further debt or have serious misgivings about being able to survive the recovery and service loans. Other cash pressures include suppliers, service charges and the cost of re-opening to repurchase stock and ongoing running costs.

Kevan Blackadder, Director of Cheltenham BID, said: “We have businesses as diverse as independent jewellers, theatres, cafes, pubs and restaurants and fashion retailers in Cheltenham in desperate need of this money. Action is needed from the Government now.”

Claire Alexander, owner The Ebrington Arms in Chipping Campden and The Killingworth Castle in Woodstock, said: “We were utterly floored when the announcement to save hospitality turned out to mean next to nothing for us because we pay too much in business rates. 9,000 pubs like ours are currently left out and the face of the British pub will change forever if it not extended. We are the main employer in our villages, responsible for the wages of 47 families but we stand to lose everything as we have been abandoned by the grant scheme and its arbitrary cut off point as our business rates are £75,000 and £72,000. The Government has effectively said my business, my staff and the best pubs in the UK aren’t worth saving.”

Matthew Sims, CEO, Croydon BID and co-founder of #RaiseTheBar campaign said: “Access to the RHLG grant is a ticking time bomb for tens of thousands of businesses on our High Streets and in our local communities. There are just eight weeks until rent is due and the prospect of going under is an uncomfortable truth the Government needs to hear and act upon now. The consequences of failing to increase the business rates threshold are to grim to bear.”

It is not clear when businesses will re-open and the final decision on this will be made by Government and the public health experts.

However, employers need to be ready for when we start to think about preparing for the re-opening of some shops and it is likely that some virus control restrictions will continue to be necessary to limit transmission.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has released the below outline recommendations and guidance businesses may wish to consider to facilitate implementation of social distancing in retail stores.

These are non-exhaustive, and it is the responsibility of each business to decide the most appropriate methods to implement social distancing within their shops.

Over and above these specific recommendations there should be open dialogue with colleagues to reassure them and discuss any concerns about the safety of their role.

This guidance should be implemented in addition to all legal requirements for example the Health and Safety at work regulations. Retailers are encouraged to frequently check the official Government advice which is updated daily.

Government guidance for employers can be found here and retail specific here.

1. SOCIAL DISTANCING IN AND AROUND STORES

Government advice

The Government has issued guidance for social distancing in retail outlets, which can be read here. That advice is the basis for the practical guidance below.

All employers are expected to follow social distancing guidance. Where the production environment makes it difficult to do so, employers should consider what measures may be put in place to protect employees. Once staff have left the work areas, social distancing and further hand washing guidance should be adhered to.

Government advice recognises that “the practical implementation of this advice will depend on the local circumstances.” The guideline goes on to acknowledge the need for a local management assessment of measures that can be implemented. Businesses can meet these objectives by implementing the following measures.

BRC recommendations on how to implement:

Outside store

• Limit number of entry and exit points into and out of store. Consider having separate entrance and exit points if possible.
• Limit the number of customers in the store at any time. Assess the size of the store and its layout, this will enable you to calculate the number of customers who can reasonably follow 2m social distancing.
• Use a colleague to meet customers, explain the social distancing requirements and control the number of customers entering store at any one time. In some circumstances, that colleague may need to be SIA licensed.
• Consider whether temporary barriers should be available in case it is necessary to stop people joining a queue.
• Place clear signage outside of the store explaining the social distancing measures in place that customers should follow.
• Place markings outside the store to assist correct queue spacings.
• Speak to nearby premises to work together to manage possible shared queuing areas.
• Encourage customers to shop alone wherever possible. Please bear in mind that this is not always possible.
• Schedule deliveries to avoid crowding in delivery areas.
• Consider non-contact stock deliveries.
• Businesses in shopping centres should discuss queue management with centre management to determine the best way to avoid congestion.
• Consider whether additional security staff may be required to support staff.

Inside Store

Hygiene and cleaning

• Provision of cleaning stations at front of store including:
  • Hand sanitiser, if available and
  • Disinfectant wipes or spray and tissue for trolley/basket handles.
• Identify and regularly clean key touch points e.g. door handles, lift buttons, keypads, stair/escalator hand rails.

Social Distancing

General

• Consider what steps will be taken by managers and staff where customers are not following social distancing measures.

Shop Floor and Till Areas

• Use floor markings inside to facilitate compliance with the social distancing advice of
• 2 metres, particularly in the most crowded areas and where queueing is likely.
• Place clear signage throughout the store reminding customers of the social distancing measures and asking them to follow these rules.
• Review the layout of the store to ensure aisles/walkways are as clear as possible to accommodate 2m social distancing, including the removal of promotional fixtures if necessary.
• Consider one-way systems using floor markings and signage to highlight system and direction.
• Make regular announcements to remind staff and customers to follow social distancing advice.
• Erect physical barriers at till points using flexiplastic to provide a barrier for those working on the tills. These should be included in store cleaning programmes.
• If necessary, use staff to manage the flow of customers to checkouts.
• Where till points are close together, consider closing every other till point. Assess whether this is also necessary for self-scan tills.
• Leave non-essential doors open to minimise the number of people who touch them. This does not apply to fire doors.
• Customer order collection points should be set up to ensure the 2m separation either by floor markings or by limiting the number of customers that can wait at a time.
• Consider limiting the number of customers in enclosed spaces such as lifts.
• Remove promotions and features where customers are likely to congregate, such as product demonstrations.
• To limit congestion, consider restocking/replenishing only outside of store opening hours. If replenishment must be done in opening hours, assess how this can be done without compromising employee or customer safety.
• Encourage cashless purchases.
• Self-checkout touch screens/keypads – If these remain in operation a member of staff must be available to regularly wipe these areas. Ideally between each use.

Changing rooms, Customer Seating and Special Assistance

• Consider keeping changing rooms closed. If this is not possible, you must have a colleague in place at all times to ensure social distancing is maintained.
• Where customers require specialist advice/assistance in store, ensure colleagues giving the advice have a clearly designated position, ideally with a secure barrier as provided at till points.
• Remove or limit customer seating in store. If seating is provided, space out appropriately.
• If you provide in store products for customers to trial prior to purchase e.g. TV’s, headphones, computers these must be set up to enable social distancing rules to be followed:
  • Consider whether it is better for staff to demonstrate instead of customers touching the item or
  • Provide hand sanitiser in these areas
• Stop services which require direct interaction with customers such as providing make up advice, nail bars or personal shopping.
• If stores choose not to assist customers with large purchases e.g. 60” TV to their car, it is advisable to highlight this prior to purchase. If stores are providing this service they should provide suitable protection and advice for this to be conducted safely.

Cafes and Toilets

• Consider whether it is safe to keep customer toilets open or if these should be available on request. If open, regular cleaning should include manual multi-person touch points such as door handles, flushes, taps. etc.
• Baby changing facilities should be available but consider frequency of cleaning.
• Cafes and restaurants are closed until further notice and should be securely closed off to ensure customers do not use them for seating.

2. MANAGING THE WORKPLACE – ENSURING YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE PROTECTED

Government Advice

If anyone becomes unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature in the business or workplace they should be sent home and advised to follow the stay at home guidance. If you or an employee are experiencing symptoms, visit NHS 111 online or call 111 if there is no internet access. In an emergency, call 999 if they are seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. Do not visit the GP, pharmacy, urgent care centre or a hospital.

If a member of staff has helped someone who was taken unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature, they do not need to go home unless they develop symptoms themselves. They should wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds after any contact with someone who is unwell with symptoms consistent with coronavirus infection.

It is not necessary to close the business or workplace or send any staff home, unless government policy changes. You should keep monitoring the government response to coronavirus for further updates.

BRC recommendations on how to implement:

• Ensure all staff are aware of the social distancing measures that are in place and trained on how they should support these measures being observed. Remind staff that social distancing applies in all areas of the store, including non-customer facing areas.
• Regular and visible written or verbal communication of the government messages.
• Frequent reminders using the following:
  • Additional signage to ask staff not to turn up for work if they have symptoms.
  • Written communication.
  • Posters and signage.
  • Daily reminders to all staff via noticeboard and/or intranet.

2.1 LIMITING SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS IN THE WORKPLACE

Government Advice

Businesses and employers can help reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) by reminding everyone of the public health advice. Posters, leaflets and other materials are available.

Employees and customers should be reminded to wash their hands for 20 seconds more frequently than normal.

Government advice is clear PPE, including facemasks, is only necessary for those working in clinical situations. However, we are aware from the experience of our food retail members that some colleagues remain concerned and good practice is to supply masks or visors, and gloves to those who request them. It is important that these are used correctly to minimise the risk of infection. The use of such PPE does not replace or reduce the need to follow the government guidance in relation to hygiene practices.

Frequently clean and disinfect objects and surfaces that are touched regularly, using your standard cleaning products.

• Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds.
• Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.
• Wash your hands as soon as you get to work and when you arrive home, after you blow your nose, cough or sneeze, before you eat or handle food.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.
• Put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards.

BRC Recommendations on how to Implement:

General Considerations

• Regular and visible written/verbal communication of the government messages.
• Daily reminders about hand washing and correct coughing etiquette using the following:
  • Additional signage
  • Written communication
  • Posters and signage.
• Daily reminders to all staff via noticeboards and/or intranets
• Provision of hand sanitiser in high traffic/customer interaction areas such as:
  • Till points
  • Changing rooms, if open
  • Staff rooms
  • Backdoor for staff and delivery drivers
• Regular cleaning of multi-person contact points including door handles, keypads.
• Provide additional pop-up handwashing stations or facilities if possible. Provide soap, water and hand sanitiser, if available.
• Facilitate regular handwashing breaks for all staff.
• Introduce frequent deep cleaning of work areas, with attention to multi contact points. For example, between shifts, staff change overs and/or during breaks.
• Encourage use of disinfectant wipes to clean all equipment before and after each use.
• Stagger staff shift start, end and break times to avoid crowding.
• Arrange shifts to maintain same staff working together, where possible.
• Offer staff alternative tasks if concerns are raised.
• Have available sufficient gloves, masks and/or visors for those colleagues who require them. If you supply re-useable visors ensure colleagues are reminded to clean them regularly during use, and before and after each use.
• Remind staff not to share items for example, pens when signing in or out.
• Consider how staff security checks can be managed while maintaining social distancing.

2.2 IN STAFF CANTEENS AND REST AREAS

Government Advice

It is very unlikely that coronavirus is transmitted through food. Workplace canteens may remain open where there are no practical alternatives for staff to obtain food. As far as reasonably possible, a distance of 2 metres should be maintained between users.

BRC recommendations on how to implement:

• Staff can continue to use rest areas if they apply the same social distancing measures.
• Staff who go outside the store for a break should maintain physical distancing from any colleagues or public while doing so.
• Notices promoting hand hygiene and social distancing should be placed visibly in these areas.
• Staff should be reminded to wash their hands regularly using soap and water for 20 seconds before and after eating.
• Provision of hand sanitiser at entry/exit points.
• Canteen staff who are unwell should not be at work.
• Canteen staff should wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and before and after handling food.
• A distance of 2m should be maintained between users.
• Where possible, staff should be encouraged to bring their own food.
• If possible, increase the number of hand washing stations available.
• Introduce a staggered or extended break rota to avoid crowding.
• Space out chairs and tables. For example, by removal or marking as “do not use”.
• Remove sofas from break areas.
• Frequently clean and disinfect surfaces that are touched regularly, using your standard cleaning products.
• Consider providing a takeaway service to avoid crowding in the canteen

3. REGULAR REVIEW AND COMPLIANCE CHECKING

It is important that any of the measures put in place are regularly checked to ensure customer and colleagues’ understanding and compliance.

With regards to customer compliance, retailers should review their in-store and out-of-store security measures and requirements on a regular basis. Public facing retail staff could be faced with difficult situations when trying to manage social distancing measures and other requirements (e.g. non-compliance). Staff should be supported when trying to manage and enforce government guidance and it is important that it is made clear to customers to treat staff with respect. This can be done through increased signage and the appropriate action where necessary. Retailers and government have a duty to protect shop workers, and there must be a zero tolerance approach to verbal and physical abuse from customers, with clear measures in place to protect staff and deal with abusive customers.

For further information and guidance from BRC, visit brc.org.uk.

Cheltenham BID held their second COVID-19 business support call, which was open to all BID levy payers.

Concerns were raised on the first call back on April 2 around a lack of flexibility from some landlords around rents that are due. Some landlords were demanding payment without offering any sort of delay or alternative. Since then Cheltenham BID Director Kevan Blackadder and Cheltenham Borough Council leader Steve Jordan called on commercial landlords via an open letter to work with tenants to make new rent arrangements as the impact of COVID-19 bites in so many ways. The letter to commercial landlords encouraged both landlords and tenants to explore interim solutions to make sure that local businesses remain viable.

Cheltenham BID invited Chartered Surveyor and Head of Commercial Property at Bruton Knowles, Dorian Wragg to their second call as an expert guest speaker. Dorian said that he had seen a change in several strategies since the grants for businesses have trickled through.

The relationship between landlord and tenant had changed and many more rent deferments are now happening rather than rent holidays. Even with the rent holidays, the landlords were working on a month-to-month deferment basis and not the full three months.

Dorian said: “Landlords are under a lot of pressure from the banks as they are not in the place to write off three months’ worth of rent. As soon as the businesses are seeing the government grants, the first thing they are doing are paying their landlords rent. Bruton Knowles have now collected 70% of our commercial tenants’ rents to date.”

A number of BID businesses stated that they already had a positive relationship with their landlord and that they had accommodated them through this time. Others said the opposite but said that they had been able to pay rent because of receiving their Government grant.

The conversation turned to business recovery and the question: “How can the BID help your business recovery?” Some businesses stated that they were still in the survival/crisis stage of the pandemic and that they have not yet thought about recovery plans. Others brought up the fact that business owners and even the Government still had no idea what the post-lockdown period would look like and how much social distancing would if in fact now be part of their everyday lives. Would there be need for a queueing system outside shops due to customer number limits?

Businesses on the call shared the fact that supporting local businesses was now more important than ever before. The Institute of Place Management and The BID Foundation’s newest statistics showed that 30% of small businesses may not re-open after the COVID-19 crisis and that customer sentiment had also changed in the sense that since April 1 customers are spending money in smaller local businesses and in businesses who are shouting about the fact that they look after their staff and care about the community.

Cheltenham BID will be working on developing a deliverable, recovery plan with locally available resources that will support businesses being operational and people returning to Cheltenham town centre.

HMRC has confirmed that the new portal for employers to register and claim for furloughed staff will open on Monday April 20.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been created by the government to support businesses and protect the UK economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The scheme is designed to help businesses keep their employees on the payroll.

Businesses who have furloughed workers may apply for a grant that covers 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay.

You will need to have formally furloughed any employees you are claiming for.  For more information on furloughing your staff visit the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development here and the Government website here.

HMRC will pay within 10 days of the first claim being submitted, with future claims being processed within 4-6 days. Claims can be made within 14 days before payroll is run.

Payments will be paid by BACS.

If your business is eligible for the scheme, there are things you can do now to prepare for when the system is up and running later this month. 

To make a claim, you will need to provide:

• The bank account number and sort code where HMRC should pay your claim to.
• The name and phone number of the person in your business for HMRC to call with any questions.
• Your Self Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference or Corporation Tax Unique Taxpayer Reference or Company Registration Number
• Your employer PAYE reference number
• The number of employees being furloughed.
• The full name and National Insurance number for each of your furloughed employees.
• If you have them, the payroll / employee number for the furloughed employees (don’t worry if you don’t have these – many small businesses don’t).
• The total amount being claimed for all employees and the claim period (start and end date).

Please note, if you use an agent who is authorised to act for you for PAYE purposes, they will be able to make a claim on your behalf, so please contact them now.

File only agents, including Payroll Bureaus, will not be able access the service due to data protection reasons, and therefore you will need to make the claim yourself.

For the latest updates and advice, please visit GOV.UK.