Latest Update Coronavirus

IMPORTANT HMG ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BUSINESSES

05.01.2021 – Here’s the latest information as the third national lockdown begins:

Businesses and venues which can remain open: 

Other businesses and venues are permitted to stay open, following COVID-19 secure guidelines. Businesses providing essential goods and services can stay open. The full list of these businesses can be found in the guidance on closing certain businesses and venues in England, but includes:

  • essential retail such as food shops, supermarkets, pharmacies, garden centres, building merchants and suppliers of building products and off-licences
  • market stalls selling essential retail may also stay open
  • businesses providing repair services may also stay open, where they primarily offer repair services
  • petrol stations, automatic (but not manual) car washes, vehicle repair and MOT services, bicycle shops, and taxi and vehicle hire businesses
  • banks, building societies, post offices, short-term loan providers and money transfer businesses
  • funeral directors
  • laundrettes and dry cleaners
  • medical and dental services
  • vets and retailers of products and food for the upkeep and welfare of animals
  • animal rescue centres, boarding facilities and animal groomers (may continue to be used for animal welfare, rather than aesthetic purposes)
  • agricultural supplies shops
  • mobility and disability support shops
  • storage and distribution facilities
  • car parks, public toilets and motorway service areas
  • outdoor playgrounds
  • outdoor parts of botanical gardens and heritage sites for exercise
  • places of worship
  • crematoriums and burial grounds

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has this morning announced further substantial financial support to assist the business community and the main highlights are as follows: 

Businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure will receive new grants to help them keep afloat until spring. The grants will be worth up to £9,000 per property, the Treasury says. The help is in addition to business rates relief and the furlough scheme which has been extended until the end of April.

Separately, £594m will be made available to affected firms outside these sectors. 

This money will be made available by local authorities.

In total, the package of support measures is worth £4.6bn across the UK and will “help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen”.

Businesses such as cafes, restaurants, leisure centres and shops that do not sell essentials have been particularly hard hit by coronavirus lockdown measures as people are told to stay at home. All non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues are now closed, with pubs and restaurants allowed to offer takeaway food only. Indoor and outdoor sport is also cancelled except for elite competitions.

Click here for more: National lockdown: Stay at Home – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).