Guidance for the Period of National Mourning
Buckingham Palace has released details of the funeral of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.
Businesses in Broxtowe may wish to make arrangements for observing the national one minute silence at 3.00pm on the day of the funeral, which is Saturday 17th May 2021.
There is no expectation for businesses to close during the mourning period unless they wish to. This is a decision for individual organisations.
Broxtowe enters STEP 2
The roadmap out of lockdown is well underway and we are currently at STEP 2 of the Government's four step Covid Recovery Roadmap.
Summary of changes for businesses:
- All non-essential retail, personal care premises such as hairdressers and nail salons are permitted to reopen Covid-Securely;
- Hospitality venues are now allowed to serve people outdoors and there will be no need for customers to order a substantial meal with alcoholic drinks and no curfew, although customers must order, eat and drink while seated (table service only);
- Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms can re-open (but only for use by people on their own or in household groups);
- Most outdoor attractions and settings including zoos, theme parks, and drive-in cinemas are permitted to reopen Covid-Securely;
- Self-contained accommodation such as campsites and holiday lets, where indoor facilities are not shared with other households can also reopen.
All Businesses are urged to continue reviewing the Government's guidance packs and regularly monitor official communications from the Council and relevant industry bodies.
Links are all available via the Council's Open for Business webpage.
Track and Trace
By law, various venues must collect details of ALL customers and visitors on their premises, not just a single nominated contact for the table/group, regardless of them being indoor or outdoor venues or mobile settings. These venues include:
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hospitality businesses, including all pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés;
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tourism and leisure venues, including hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks;
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close contact businesses, including hairdressers, barbershops and tailors;
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facilities provided by local authorities, including town halls and civic centres for events, community centres, libraries and children’s centres;
- places of worship.
Businesses and venues may recognise this is different to how contact details had to be collected previously under Track and Trace.
Where a customer/visitor may not have the NHS Covid-19 App to check into a venue using their digital device, details will need to be recorded using a manual system instead.
More information can be found in the Track and Trace section of our Open For Business webpage.
Twice weekly rapid testing available for all over 18
People aged 18 and over in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham will be able to collect two boxes of seven tests per person or four boxes per family from our asymptomatic community testing sites.
People collecting boxes from our community testing sites can also have a supervised test to help ensure that tests done at home are accurate.
With rapid testing offered to everyone, people are being encouraged to take regular tests to help prevent outbreaks and get back to a more normal way of life.
Click 'More Info' below to read the Council's full release.
Covid-19 Business Support Grants
There are currently three grant schemes administered by the Council which are currently open to applications, outlined below.
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Restart Grant - Providing one-off payments of up to £6,000 for non-essential retail premises and up to £18,000 for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gyms; which were legally required to close as of 1st April 2021.
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Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) - Will involve top-up amount of money to the current existing Discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant scheme. It will support businesses that do not have a business rates account. Please note that businesses will not be eligible to receive support under the ARG scheme, if they are eligible for a Restart Grant (see above).
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National Restrictions Grant, Feb to March 2021 - Remaining Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) payments to eligible businesses for the period from 16th February to 31st March 2021. This scheme will officially close to applications on 31st May 2021. Final payments under this scheme will be paid to those eligible by 30th June 2021.
How to access financial support as a business
If you believe that your business is eligible for one of the above grants, then you will now be required to re-apply by selecting the correct application form.
Further information and all application forms for the above grants are all available via our Support For Business webpage.
 STEP 3 and businesses that remain closed
Providing this is confirmed by Government and all four tests for re-opening are met, the country could officially move to STEP 3 from Monday 17th May 2021.
This date is however subject to change and will not occur any earlier.
More information about what will happen on reaching STEP 3 is available on our Open For Business webpage.
Businesses remaining closed
There may be some venues which have decided it was too challenging to re-open to customers on the 12th April, whether this is down to staffing to provide table service, stock availability or simply a lack of available outdoor space for it to be viable.
Those businesses are reminded that food and drinks, including alcohol, can still be provided on a takeaway basis. This means that customers can enter their premises to place and collect their order. Good purchased this way must be consumed off the premises, which includes their outdoor areas.
Food and drinks can also be provided via drive through, as well as click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered by phone, online, via a mobile app or post, and collected without entering the premises) and delivery.
Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS)
The Recovery Loan Scheme is now open to help businesses of any size access loans and other kinds of finance so they can recover after the pandemic and transition period.
The RLS will provide to eligible businesses the following:
- Term loans or overdrafts of between £25,001 and £10 million per business,
- Invoice or asset finance of between £1,000 and £10 million per business.
No personal guarantees will be taken on facilities up to £250,000 and a borrower’s principal private residence cannot be taken as security.
The RLS is open to applications until 31st December 2021, however this date is subject to review.
For more information and to apply please visit the - Government's Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) guidance for businesses
 Start Up Day Reloaded
A packed programme of online events for anyone who has recently started or is thinking of starting a business, featuring expert webinars and workshops plus stories from people who have successfully made the move to running a business.
You only need to register once to get access to the full day of events. You can then choose which sessions you attend.
Date: Wednesday 28th April
Time: 10am-4pm
Click below for more information and to book a space.
 Skills Access Hub
Businesses can now access free impartial advice from experienced Skills Advisors and develop action plans to close skills gaps within the workforce.
The plan could focus on upskilling the existing team, or look at ways to bring new skills and capacity into the business via apprenticeships, Kickstart, internships and/or graduate placements.
The dedicated team of Skills Advisers work with businesses on a one-to-one basis, to ensure support it tailored and responsive to business needs.
For more information visit - https://d2n2skillsaccesshub.co.uk/
The Skills Access Hub is a 3-year project, part-funded by the European Social Fund, that offers skills advice and brokerage support to small and medium sized businesses based across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (D2N2).
 D2N2 Peer Networks
The Peer Network programme is open for SMEs In D2N2, which include Broxtowe.
Peer Networks enables you to make connections that go far beyond networking. Overcome business challenges with Peer Networks.
Spaces now available for our Peer Network cohorts on:
- BAME Owned Businesses
- Medtech and Life Sciences
- High Growth Business
- Hospitality
- Visitor Economy
- Retail
Register your interest for any of the Peer Network spaces, by clicking 'Register' below.
 Digital Upscaler Awareness
Is your business scaling at a fast pace? Are your growth plans on hold due to not having access to digital technologies, resources and knowledge?
If this sounds like your business you may be eligible to expert-led digital support and advice through the Digital Upscaler project.
The programme consists of:
- Intensive one-to-one digital adviser support
- Capital technology grants of between £10,000 - £50,000
- Funded diagnostic consultancy and support to implement new technology
- Digital strategy programme and Technology Forums
If you are interested, why not book onto one of the four awareness sessions available?
Dates: 24th March, 15th and 28th April.
Click below to book.
Council services during the COVID-19 pandemic
We have a Support for Business page on our website which has lots of useful information about grants, schemes and links to guidance.
We are also sharing regular updates about affected Council services at https://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can also get updates on our social media accounts.
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