Coronavirus Update from Visit York
Following consultation with our partners at VisitBritain please find below an update on COVID-19. Please do feed this back to us by email with an updates on how your business has been impacted at membership@makeityork.com. We will then pass this intelligence onto the local, regional and national level. Importantly, this means that we can inform VisitBritain and DCMS so they can continue to feed in tourism concerns to Government.
Latest Government advice and links
- Announcement on investment in bus routes, to keep services running for those who need to travel to get to work or buy food.
- UK Export Finance expands protection against non-payment for UK exporters, now covering major markets including the US and EU.
- Cash support for food redistribution during coronavirus outbreak to prevent food waste.
- Update on the deferral of VAT payments due to coronavirus (COVID-19) page, clarifying that import VAT payments are not included.
- UKVI have produced a collection of resources on immigration and borders during the coronavirus. Advice on for Tier 2,4, and 5 sponsors has been updated today.
- BEIS Committee Chairman Rachel Reeves has written to the Chancellor calling on further changes to CBILS and self-employed support.
- The UK Government’s Business Support Website has a list of upcoming webinar events from Government and non-government partners. This includes webinars from HMRC, you can also watch a video of HMRC’s webinar on the HMRC YouTube channel Coronavirus – (COVID-19): helping employers to support employees.
- Government amends insolvency law to help companies keep trading while they explore options for rescue. The Insolvency Act will be temporarily suspended specifically to give confidence to directors to continue trading without the threat of personal liability, should the company ultimately fall into insolvency.
- DCMS Secretary of State provides an update on access to cultural attractions from home
- The Cabinet Office has produced COVID-19 FAQs detailing what the public can and can’t do, which businesses may wish to share with their employees.
- Government cracks down on spread of false coronavirus information online.
- New guidance for food businesses has been added to Gov.uk. the guidance includes need to know information about coronavirus and food, food hygiene guidance, managing employee sickness, social distancing and maintaining social distancing in specific food business settings.
- A new HMRC helpline has been launched to help businesses concerned about paying their tax due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The helpline allows any business or self-employed individual who is concerned about paying their tax due to coronavirus to get practical help and advice. Up to 2,000 experienced call handlers are available to support businesses and individuals when needed. The new number is: 0800 024 1222.
Further Guidelines Regarding the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
- 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.
- The UK Government will cover employer National Insurance and pension contributions of furloughed workers – on top of 80% of salary
- Those furloughed can volunteer for the NHS without risking their pay
- Businesses furloughing staff during the coronavirus outbreak will receive further financial support – with the costs of employer national insurance and pension contributions being covered by the government. Under the scheme, employers can claim a grant covering 80% of the wages for a furloughed employee, subject to a cap of £2,500 a month. Visit the gov.uk website to find out more.
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
Support measures outlined by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons
- All retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England will receive a 100% business rates holiday for the next 12 months.
- Increase in grants to small businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief from £3,000 to £10,000.
- Further £25,000 grants to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000.
- Confirmation that government advice to avoid pubs, clubs and theatres etc. is sufficient for businesses to claim on their insurance where they have appropriate business interruption cover for pandemics in place.
- Relaxation in planning regulations to allow pubs and restaurants to start providing takeaways without a planning application.
- Support for liquidity amongst large firms, with a major new scheme being launched by the Bank of England to help them bridge COVID-19 disruption to their cash flows through loans.
- Increasing the amount businesses can borrow through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme from £1.2 million to £5 million, and ensuring businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as Government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments.
- The bank of England scheme and business interruption loan scheme will be available from the beginning of next week.
Full details can be found on gov.uk. Watch the speech in the Commons here.
Other travel measures, advice and updates:
The UK Government has announced that it has worked with rail operators to agree a reduction in rail service levels to help tackle the spread of COVID-19. Rail services will be reduced from Monday 23 March and kept under review
- 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.
- Expo 2020 due to take place in Dubai this year has been postponed to 2021
- EasyJet has announced due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions that they have fully grounded their fleet of aircraft as of 30 March.
Keep Us Updated
With the ongoing coronavirus situation, we are aware that tourism and hospitality businesses are being impacted by this global crisis. We are tracking as many of business impacts as possible, which is then being passed on (in confidence) to relevant partners locally, regionally and nationally. This is also being used to try to calculate the economic impact on tourism in York and beyond. Importantly, this means that we can inform VisitBritain and DCMS so they can continue to feed in tourism concerns to Government.
We are very grateful for all of the information that came into the first wave of coronavirus impact research, which we conducted following the initial diagnosis in York. Six weeks on the situation is very different and so we have set up a second wave of the survey, designed for this current phase.
To be able to accurately assess the situation and to make sure we are providing the full picture to our partners, we would appreciate your support in logging the impacts your business is seeing. This short survey allows you to log in as often as you'd like and record how your business is being impacted. Please be assured that all of the information you provide will be treated confidentially. Please follow this link to log in and report back to us.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YorkCovid-19_wave2
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