 STEP 3 restrictions now in place
On Monday 17th May the UK reached STEP 3 of the Government's Covid Recovery Roadmap, as such the restrictions associated with this step now apply under law.
Summary of changes at STEP 3 affecting businesses and venues in Broxtowe:
- Indoor entertainment and attractions (including Cinemas and Museums) are now permitted to re-open COVID-Securely:
- A new 30 person limit outdoors;
- 'Rule of 6' or two households now permitted to meet socially indoors (including in Hospitality venues) and will not require a 'substantial meal' to be ordered.
- In Hospitality settings customers must continue to order, eat and drink while seated (‘table service’) only. However, venues that do not provide alcohol for consumption on the premises, such as certain cafes, may permit customers to order from the counter, but any food/drink must still be consumed whilst seated;
- Indoor leisure facilities will be able to allow organised adult sport;
- The remaining accommodation previously closed in STEP 2 will be permitted to re-open to facilitate domestic overnight stays.
Changes to COVID-Secure guidance
On 17th May, further changes to the following sector specific guidance packs for operating COVID-Securely, were made on the Government's website:
- Close contact services
- Construction and other outdoor work
- Factories, plants and warehouses
- Labs and research facilities
- Offices and contact centres
- Other people's homes
- Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services
- Shops and branches
- Vehicles
All businesses in Broxtowe must follow the latest Government guidance on operating COVID-Secure for their respective businesses type/setting, by Law.
Links to all the latest guidance can be found via the Council's 'Open For Business' webpage.
Grant Payments Update
The team processing these applications continue to work hard in fully assessing and paying out grants to those eligible as quickly as possible.
- 546 businesses have now been paid a total of £3.8m in Restart Grants,
- A further 341 businesses not eligible for Restart Grants have received a total of £474k through the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme.
If you have made an application to either of these schemes, please refrain from making follow up enquiries on the status of your application.
Applications are being processed in chronological order, requiring significantly more checks and evidence to process. As a result, businesses with pending applications will be contacted directly and provided with an update, once the team reach that submission.
Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) reminder
Applications for the current round (fourth) of the SEISS grants are still open.
Claims for the fourth SEISS grant must be made on or before the 1st June 2021.
The fourth grant will cover the trading period February 2021 to April 2021 and is worth 80% of trading profits, capped at £7,500 to be paid in a single instalment.
To find out more and apply, click 'Support For Business' below.
Preparing for changes to the 'Furlough' scheme
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) was extended until September 2021.
However, the existing scheme will change from 1st July 2021, where businesses will be asked to further contribute to the cost of furloughed employee wages.
Employer contributions will increase even further in August and September, but employees will still continue to receive up to 80% of their wages for hours not worked, where they are furloughed 100% of the time.
From 1st July, employers will:
- Continue to pay furloughed employees 80% of their wages, but the Government's contribution for hours not worked will reduce from 80%, down to 70%.
- This means, under the scheme employers must contribute at least 10% of employee wages (capped at £312.50 per month), for hours not worked.
From 1st August, employers will:
- Continue to pay furloughed employees 80% of their wages, but the Government's contribution for hours not worked will reduce from 70%, down to 60%.
- This means, under the scheme employers must contribute at least 20% of employee wages (capped at £625 per month), for hours not worked.
A business can choose to top-up employee wages above the 80% total and £2,500 cap, for the hours not worked at it's own expense.
The level of grant available to employers under the scheme will stay the same until the 30th June 2021. Click 'Furlough Changes' below to find out more.
 Track and Trace in businesses, venues and other settings
The following establishments must collect contact details of ALL customers, visitors and staff (over the age of 16) on their premises for the purpose of Track and Trace system by law:
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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 and amusement arcades;
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close contact businesses, including hairdressers, barbershops and tailors;
- community centres, libraries and village halls;
All those listed above must hold records from all their customers and visitors for 21 days. This reflects the incubation period for COVID-19 (which can be up to 14 days) and an additional 7 days to allow time for testing and tracing. After 21 days, this information should be securely disposed of or deleted within GDPR guidelines.
 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).
Grant to help businesses tackle domestic abuse
Employers across Beeston and Chilwell can access help to support workers affected by domestic abuse thanks to a grant awarded to Broxtowe Women's Project (BWP) from The Rotary Club of Beeston.
With the grant of £1,000, BWP, which works across the Borough and beyond to support people affected by domestic abuse, will help local businesses focus on what they can do to address the problem.
How can my business support?
If you’d like your businesses to be part of the project contact: chris@broxtowewp.org at BWP, or secretary@beestonrotary.org
Find out more about:
 D2N2 Growth Hub - New Business Events Added
The D2N2 Growth Hub continue to offer valuable help and advice to businesses in Broxtowe. This includes various events delivered online due to the pandemic.
For a full programme of future events, click 'Business Events' below.
 As part of the wider £5b ‘Project Gigabit’ programme, the UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher will provide micro grants of up to £3,500 for businesses in the hardest to reach rural areas (with current speeds of less than 100Mbps) to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections when part of a group scheme.
Reset. Restart
Get your business into shape for post-COVID trading with free webinars from the Nottingham City Libraries' Reset. Restart programme.
1:1 sessions with expert business mentors and a range of webinars are available to help you make the most of your time and money.
Here’s what’s coming up:
- Digital Marketing & Social Media - 20th May and 1st July
- From Business Idea to Business Model - 3rd June
- Plan Your Post-Lockdown Recovery – 15th June
- How customer-focused is your marketing? - 17th June
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PLUS 1:1 sessions every Wednesday morning
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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