We are in this together

These are extraordinary times - and right now the future is at best uncertain What is important is that we all stay up-to-date with the latest advice and work together as a town to support each other so we can stay safe and healthy and come out of the other side of the crisis as strong as possible.

If you are a levy-payer you will have recently received this year's bill. This was bad timing in the circumstances and we have already issued new letters explaining that for any businesses paying less than £1,500 per year they can hold onto their money until at least August.

Where can businesses find the latest government guidance and support packages available?

The Government is doing all it can to make the process of finding and accessing business support packages as simple as possible so nobody misses out.

They have created a single web page that combines information on all the most important new measures. You can find it here. It includes the initial details of the Coronovirus Job Retention Scheme.

Keeping your staff safe

The latest government guidance on dealing with the potential for Covid-19 infections amongst your staff has just been published. You are strongly advised to read it here.

Wherever staff can work from home they should be encouraged and supported to do so. If anyone at work starts to display symptoms then act immediately to get them safely home.

Key-worker guidance

Here is a link to the announcement on key workers published by the Department for Education. The guidance sets out those whose work is critical to the coronavirus response and keeping crucial public services going.

Employers should be responsible about who needs to be in the office and we encourage them to help their staff find alternative arrangements to support them working from home.

Meanwhile, life goes on

The COVID-19 outbreak doesn't mean everything has to stop. Indeed, it's important we continue to make Hastings a more vibrant and attractive town so that we can bounce back once the crisis is over.

The BID levy has paid for 100 flower troughs and the remainder of these are going out over the next month.

Art Everywhere

Late last year we asked for submissions for an art project using bus shelters. We had so many great entries we have been working to extend it - and you'll soon see pieces like this springing up all over town...

Event support 2020 - 2021

At the last meeting of the BID directors it was agreed to commit over £30,000 of funding to support a number of key events in the town this coming year. This decision was made before the impact of the Covid-19 virus was apparent, and as such we are now waiting to see what goes ahead. Any events that are cancelled will have the money held over to next year to allow them more funds to come back with a bang.

The list we have agreed is:

1066 Bike Run
Pirate Day
Priory Meadow 'beach'
Pride
Bonfire
Coastal Currents
Christmas fireworks
The 'Batle of Hastings'
Fat Tuesday

Area grants and other projects

Is there something you would like to see done to improve your corner of the town centre? We have £10,000 earmarked this year for ideas put forward by local businesses - so send us your ideas and we'll try to bring them to life.

We will be looking to spend a further £40,000 on enhancing parts of the town - so watch this space for works getting underway.

With the removal of the council's CCTV monitoring staff from 1st April we are also looking at working with the Business Crime Reduction Partnership to place cameras of our own in key locations to provide support to the town's businesses and ensure a safe shopping experience for visitors.

BusinessWatch News

The Association of Convenience Stores Crime Report 2020 shows how retail crime has a huge economic impact on local shops, costing these small shops £211 million nationally. It also has a direct impact on people working in shops who suffer from from violence and verbal abuse. The report estimates there were over 50,000 incidents of violence and threats last year and 83% of store colleagues experienced verbal abuse. The majority (77%) of shop thefts that take place in stores are committed by repeat offenders, with 52% of these motivated by a drug or alcohol addiction.

This underscores the importance of the suport the BID gives to the local Hastings ShopWatch scheme, which would struggle to run effectively without the financial help of the BID.