Information, Advice and Guidance on Covid 19

We know that Coronavirus (COVID-19) is causing concern for businesses. We will be regularly updating information on this page and providing links to information and advice from a range of sources including Public Health England, HMRC and Visit Britain.

Visit Britain Business Advice Hub

Resources

If your business is feeling the impact of this economic shock, you’re in need of advice of how to prepare and communicate with your staff, or are looking for the latest guidance for dealing with customers in your business please find below a useful guide to current information available:

Government Information

Torbay Council Information

Financial Information

Tax Information

  • HMRC Business Support Helpline – 0800 024 1222. HMRC have opened a dedicated helpline for businesses and the self-employed to answer queries or concerns regarding tax payments and finding solutions including:
  • Coronavirus WhatsApp Information Service – The Govt has started a Whatsapp information service get provide official, trustworthy and timely information and advice about coronavirus out to as many people as possible. It will provide information on topics such as coronavirus prevention and symptoms, the latest number of cases in the UK, advice on staying at home, travel advice and myth busting via a chatbot. To use this free service, simply add 07860 064422 in your phone contacts and then message the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to get started. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-coronavirus-information-service-on-whatsapp
  • Filing Accounts – the Government has announced that businesses will be able to apply for a 3-month extension for filing their accounts. Further information on how to apply for an extension can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-more-time-to-file-your-companys-accounts

HR Information

Regional Information

National Information

  • VisitEngland’s Business Advice Hub features a dedicated section containing the support available to tourism businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, from funding to guidance on mental health.

Information signposted to includes:

  • Government support finder tool
  • Skills Toolkit
  • Tips on securing finance
  • Decontamination advice for hotel rooms
  • Support webinars

The page is reviewed and updated regularly. Explore the Hub: https://www.visitbritain.org/business-advice/advice-tourism-and-event-businesses-affected-covid-19

  • Monday 27th April update

    • Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance on insurance: The FCA has set up the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) – an independent body to provide arbitration for insurance claims of smaller businesses (with turnover of less than £6.5 million and fewer than 50 employees). The decision of the FOS is binding on insurers up to £350,000.To take your complaint directly to the FOS, please contact:
      The Financial Ombudsman Service
      Exchange Tower
      London
      E14 9SR
      Telephone: 0300 123 9123
      complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
      financial-ombudsman.org.uk
    • G20 Tourism Ministers’ meeting: The G20 Tourism Ministers held a meeting on COVID-19 on Friday 24 April, Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston was in attendance and addressed the group. He spoke of the importance of tourism to the UK economy, the Government’s support measures and the regular discussions he is in with the tourism industry about what their priorities are for the recovery period. He highlighted the key areas of concern including how businesses can operate while there are still social distancing measures in place; what further guidance is needed; and whether there is a need for tapered support as businesses adjust. The G20 Tourism Ministers also issued a statement on COVID-19 outlining their commitments.Other Government updates

       

    • The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) COVID-19 survey : DCMS invites you to take part in a survey being conducted to understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on organisations in the digital, culture, media, sport, gambling, telecoms and tourism sectors and their engagement with the available government interventions. Your answers will remain anonymous and will be used to inform DCMS’ preparedness efforts. The survey should take around 10-20 minutes and the deadline for responses is 15 May 2020. Please follow this link to begin submitting your response.

Information for self-catering businesses

Government Updates for Tourism and Hospitality Businesses

We will endeavour to keep this page up to date with the latest government guidance for tourism and hospitality businesses.

  • Tuesday 17th March

  • Saturday 21st March

    • The Enforcement of Business Closures – The legal requirement forcing listed businesses to close (restaurants, pubs etc) came into force on 21st March. Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers, with police support if appropriate, will work together to issue prohibition notices challenging unsafe behaviours where businesses do not follow these restrictions. This fines for non-compliance are unlimited. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-plans-to-enforce-closure-of-businesses-and-other-venues–2
    • Permission for Pubs and Restaurants to Operate as Takeaways – The government is introducing a time limited permitted development right through secondary legislation (negative SI) to allow the temporary change of use of a pub (A4 – drinking establishment) and a restaurant (A3 – restaurants and cafes) to a hot-food take away for a period of up to 12 months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-grant-permission-for-pubs-and-restaurants-to-operate-as-takeaways-as-part-of-coronavirus-response
      • Healthcare: chaired by the Health Secretary to focus on the preparedness of the NHS, notably ensuring capacity in the critical care system for those worst affected, the medical and social package of support for those to whom we will be providing the new shielding regime
      • General Public Sector: chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to look at preparedness across the rest of the public and critical national infrastructure, excluding the NHS
      • Economic and Business: chaired by the Chancellor, with the Business Secretary as deputy chair, to consider economic and business impact and response, including supply chain resilience. It will also coordinate roundtables with key sectors to be chaired by relevant Secretaries of State. Tourism is represented on Economic and Business sub-committee by the Culture Secretary with the Tourism Industry Council being the roundtable for the Sector that feeds-in.
      • International: chaired by the Foreign Secretary, to consider our international response to the crisis through the G7, G20 and other mechanisms, including like-minded groups, and the UK five-point plan
      • https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-structures-to-coordinate-response-to-coronavirus New Government Structures to Coordinate Response to Coronavirus – COBRA have set up a series of sub-committees to focus on different aspects of the outbreak. These are:

  • Monday 23rd March

  • Monday 30th March

  • Tuesday 31st March

    • The Govt has produced updated guidance on the Grant Fund Scheme which provides further detail on how this will operate. This is the third version of the guidance to have been produced in the last two weeks which highlights both how quickly things are changing and the need to keep checking on updates of all the guidance produced to make sure you are operating from the most recent version.

  • Monday 6th April

    • Guidance on claiming employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: HMRC has published detailed guidance for businesses on how to claim support for furloughed workers through the JRS. As well as stating what information is needed to make a claim, it also includes information on how the JRS applied to people in a range of special circumstances including:
    • Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme: Following on from the Chancellor’s announcement last Friday, this brief outline has been published on the new Large Business Loan Scheme. To be eligible, your business must:
    • Funding to keep buses running: The Government has allocated £167 million over 3 months to keep key bus routes open. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/almost-400-million-to-keep-englands-buses-running
    • Councils given new powers to hold public meetings remotely: The Government has granted councils the power to hold public meets remotely which means that, among other things, planning committee meetings will still be able to take place and businesses can get decisions on planning applications. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/councils-given-new-powers-to-hold-public-meetings-remotely
    • Latest Government advice and links
    • Updates to Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to ease liquidity for SMES and a new scheme for larger companies.
      • The Chancellor has today announced the extension of the CBILS to ensure all viable small businesses affected by COVID-19, rather than just those unable to secure regular commercial financing, will now be eligible should they need finance to keep operating during this difficult time.
      • The Government has also announced it will be stopping lenders from requesting personal guarantees for loans under £250,000, and will be making changes to speed up approvals.
      • The Government will continue to cover the first 12 months of interest fees.
      • A new Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) will provide a government guarantee of 80% to enable banks to make loans of up to £25 million to firms with an annual turnover of between £45 million and £500 million.
      • The full announcement can be read here, we will share any further information and updates on these schemes as they become available.
    • Update on Business rates relief for the hospitality and leisure sector
      • Further to the guidance published earlier this week on business rate relief the Local Government Association and the Tourism Alliance have identified some tourism businesses that are not explicitly mentioned in the guidance, but it is felt that they fall into the intended category. Councils are being asked to give consideration to the premises listed below for inclusion in their local schemes:
        • Amusement Arcades
        • Vehicle Rental Sites
        • Conference and Exhibition venues
        • Travel and Tour Operators
        • Tourism Information Centres
        • Tourism Boards/Destination Management Organisations
        • Coach operators
        • English Language Schools
        • Travel/Hospitality Industry Charities (offices)
        • Marinas/Boat Hire/Passenger Boat Facilities
      • Other travel measures, advice and updates
        • As a result of the significant decline in flying, British Airways is making use of the UK’s COVID-19 Job Retention Scheme to help UK-based employees placed on furlough. The scheme will be applied to for 30,000+ cabin crew and ground-based employees in April and May.

  • Thursday 15th April

    • Furlough eligibility cut-off date extended to 19 March: The eligibility cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough scheme) has been extended from 28 February to 19 March. Employers are now able to claim for furloughed employees that were employed and on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. This means that the employee must have been notified to HMRC through an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020. The scheme is due to be fully operational next week. If you made employees redundant, or they stopped working for you on or after 28 February 2020, you can re-employ them, put them on furlough and claim for their wages through the scheme. This applies to employees that were made redundant or stopped working for you after 28 February, even if you do not re-employ them until after 19 March. Read more about the eligibility extension and how to claim support through the scheme here.

  • Friday 17th April

    • Chancellor expands loan scheme for large businesses: The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme has been expanded to cover all viable firms. All firms with a turnover of more than £45 million will now be able to apply for up to £25 million of finance, and up to £50 million for firms with a turnover of more than £250 million. The scheme, which will launch on Monday 20 April, will be available through a series of accredited lenders, which will be listed on the British Business Bank website. 
    • Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extended and open for claims from 20 April: The Government has announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended until the end of June to reflect continuing social distancing measures.The online claim service for the scheme will be launched on Gov.uk on Monday 20 April. Any entity with a UK payroll can apply, including businesses, charities, recruitment agencies and public authorities.
      • To prepare to make your claim you will need:
        • a Government Gateway (GG) ID and password – if you don’t already have a GG account, you can apply for one online
        • be enrolled for PAYE online – if you aren’t registered yet, you can register here
        • the following information for each furloughed employee you will be claiming for: Name, National Insurance number, claim period and claim amount, PAYE/employee number (optional).
        • if you have fewer than 100 furloughed staff – you will need to input information directly into the system for each employee. If you have 100 or more furloughed staff – you will need to upload a file with information for each employee; HMRC will accept the following file types: .xls .xlsx .csv .ods.
      • You should retain all records and calculations in respect of your claims. You can find more information on the scheme and eligibility to claim

  • Monday 27th April

    • Bounce Back Loans: The Chancellor has announced new “bounce back loans” for SMEs will be available from 9am next Monday.  Small businesses will be able to access loans worth 25 per cent of their turnover, up to £50,000, and the government will pay the interest for the first 12 months. The loans will be 100 per cent guaranteed by the Treasury, meaning the government will take on all the default risk. The good news for SMEs is that, unlike the other loan schemes, there are no tests of business viability and no complex eligibility criteria. Instead, there will be just a simple online form to complete. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellors-statement-to-parliament

  • Friday 1st May

On 30 April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson MP announced that the Government will be setting out a comprehensive plan next week with specific timelines outlining: 

  • How to get the economy moving
  • Get children back to school
  • How we can travel back to work and make the workplace safer
  • Continue to suppress the virus and restart the economy

Updates to Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) guidance  

The following changes have been made to the CJRS guidance:

Employee guidance

  • Furloughed employees who are union or non-union representatives may undertake duties and activities for the purpose of individual or collective representation of employees or other workers.
  • Confirmation that company directors paid annually are eligible to claim.
  • Employees receiving maternity allowance during a period of maternity leave should not receive furlough pay at the same time.

Employer guidance: eligibility

  • Updated in line with changes to employee guidance.
  • CJRS grants are not classed as state aid.
  • Changed the date from 28 February to 19 March 2020 in the section on TUPE transfers and payroll consolidation.

Employer guidance: how to calculate the grant

  • The June daily maximum wage rates have been added to the table now that the scheme has been extended.
  • Improved clarity in the employer National Insurance contributions section, confirmed the direct percentage method or tables method can be used and added new information for company directors.

The scheme opened for applications last week on Monday 20 April; this week the first grants have been paid.

Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Leisure & Hospitality Grants Fund (RLHGF):

Local authorities in England are continuing to reach out to eligible businesses directly to arrange payment. The grants are of £10,000 or £25,000 and do not need to be paid back. To ensure all eligible businesses can access these funds, Government is encouraging businesses to:

Find out more about the schemes.

Upcoming webinars and training available

Government departments are hosting a series of free webinars to help businesses understand the support available including:

A free online learning platform has been launched. ‘The Skills Toolkit’ will help people to build their skills during the coronavirus outbreak and beyond.

Other Government updates

 

The English Riviera BID Company’s position

The ERBID Co has been monitoring the situation over the last month and has been looking at the variety of scenarios for the future, which have changed frequently, if not daily.

We have created a coronavirus task group, comprising of members from across different sectors to help us in responding to the crisis and planning for the recovery as well as advising Torbay Council, Kevin Foster MP, Visit England/Britain (VB) and the Government on the situation for businesses in Torbay and feeding back our responses to the measures they may or are planning to make.

The ERBID Co fully supports the Government’s science-based approach to responding to this virus and the recent move to the “delay phase”, but delay will have severe  implications for tourism business, as it will also extend the period impact on businesses in the sector and the associated supply chain.

At this time, ERBID Co’s strategy to the coronavirus crisis will be to parallel the Governments phases with appropriate actions and advice to our members and the industry.  

Our focus will be to assist our members to: 

  1. Respond and to maximise the financial protection of their business with information and signposting to support measures
  2. Cope with a fast-moving situation with up to date information and advice
  3. Recover business as and when the opportunities rise


ERBID Co is adopting a two-phase approach


Phase 1: React, Respond and Communication Phase (the current phase)

As this is very fast-moving situation and ERBID Co is committed to responding and reacting to threats and opportunities and giving the best possible information and support to its members and these will include –

Communicate with our members to

  • Gain feedback and data on the impact of coronavirus on the sector and our members
  • Gain feedback on how the recently announced business support arrangements are, or are not working and suggest further actions/measures

Communicate with Local, Regional, VB and the Government 

  • To inform them of the current and forward economic and related impacts on the sector
  • To liaise and input into future support measures, public messaging actions and initiatives etc

Information and Advice  

The ERBID Co website is being enhanced and will be continually updated with additional sections and pages to assist our members. Please see our latest communications from CEO Carolyn Custerson on 19th March 2020.

Inform and Advise our members with advice/content from experts, ideas, suggestions and best practice from our members.

Please see the links below for resources. 

Planning for the Future

  • Work with local, regional and national partners to scenario plan and draft recovery plan(s) so that we are in the strongest position and able to move first once the opportunity to recover arises.

Phase 2: Recovery Phase

At this time this may seem premature but is never too early to start planning for the recovery and partial recovery as we will not have to wait until 80% of the population have had this virus before we can start the recovery of tourism.

Recovery planning will start straight away but the plans will be modified as we learn and have a better idea of the timescale and the nature of the markets that will commence the recovery recover soonest etc

For the short term we will adapt our visitor communications and continue to focus on support for local businesses, sustainable tourism to our natural places and connecting visitors to authentic experiences in our Naturally Inspiring landscape.

If you have any concerns, please contact Carolyn – carolyn@englishrivierabid.co.uk