Guidance for Businesses and Venues from Monday 19 July: The government has announced the removal of remaining legal lockdown restrictions beginning Monday 19 July. This means:
- All remaining businesses and venues, such as nightclubs, can reopen.
- All capacity limits at sporting, entertainment, or business events will be lifted.
- Hospitality venues will no longer be required to provide table service or follow social distancing rules.
Coronavirus is still a risk to all and businesses should follow the government’s ‘Working Safely’ guidance. While people will no longer be instructed to work from home, it is recommend that workplaces instigate a gradual return during the summer. Employers still have a legal duty to manage risks to those affected by their business. This should include:
- Conducting health and safety risk assessments that include COVID-19 risks.
- Cleaning surfaces that people touch regularly.
- Identifying poorly-ventilated areas and taking steps to improve air flow.
- Ensuring staff and customers who are unwell do not attend the premises.
- Communicating to staff and customers the measures you have put in place.
Organisations in higher risk settings are encouraged to use the NHS COVID Pass as a condition of entry, especially in large, crowded settings. This will be available through the NHS app, online at NHS.UK, or by ringing NHS 119.
Businesses are also encouraged to continue displaying QR codes for customers using the NHS COVID-19 app, or to continue collecting customer contact details to support NHS Test and Trace. Although this will no longer be a legal requirement, it helps prevent the spread of COVID-19 by letting people know they’ve been exposed. Alerts will not tell people to self-isolate or name the venue, and venues won’t need to close if there is an alert.
It is vital you continue to encourage your employees to get their vaccinations. A list of walk-in and mass vaccination centres, plus pop-up events is available here.
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Support for Businesses Affected by Flash Flooding: Following severe flash flooding on Monday 12 July, we are working closely with partners to manage the situation. If your business has been impacted, the following is available:
- A help centre is at 205 Kilburn Park Road, NW6 5LG as a one-stop-shop offering advice and support. The base will be staffed from 9am to 9pm this week.
- A Community Assistance Centre is at Porchester Hall, 45 Porchester Road, Bayswater, W2 5HS on Friday and Saturday from 9am to 5pm.
- The Business Unit can be contacted for assistance by email at businessunit@westminster.gov.uk or by telephone on 020 7641 2070.
- If you operate a food premises and require bespoke support or assistance you are also able to contact our Food Safety Team at foodsafety@westminster.gov.uk or 020 7641 1092. For food-related businesses, there is important advice on the FSA website regarding dealing with food safety following a flood.
- Insurance policy-holders are encouraged to contact your providers to check whether you can make a claim on any damage or losses incurred.
If you are a ratepayer and have suffered significant damage to your business premises, or have incurred significant financial losses as a result of the flooding, you can apply for the National-Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) Hardship Relief Scheme.
Our website will remain up to date with the latest information and advice.
Safety Advice for Businesses
You will need to do an initial clean and follow this by disinfecting all surfaces that were contaminated by floodwater. You can clean contaminated surfaces with a brush, hot water and household cleaning fluid. Don’t forget to clean enclosed spaces under kitchen units or floorboards. If floodwater was contaminated with oil or diesel, you’ll need to use a detergent such as washing-up liquid. Once you have finished cleaning, use disinfectant on everything that was in contact with floodwater. You will need to wash contaminated clothing and bedding at a high temperature.
Electrical and gas safety is vitally important following flooding. Before you start clearing up:
- Check that the electricity supply is switched off at the mains.
- If you aren’t sure the electricity is turned off, get a qualified person to do this.
- Don’t touch sources of electricity while standing in floodwater.
- Get any electrical appliances that have come into contact with floodwater checked by a qualified electrician before using them again.
- If you use gas heating or gas appliances in your home, you'll need to get a Gas Safe-registered engineer to do an inspection after a flood.
Electrical Safety First has more advice for dealing with the after effects of flooding.
Security
We are liaising with the Metropolitan Police to ensure additional patrols in the area to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, especially where premises are unsecured or empty or where property has been moved to the street. If you witness an incident or are concerned about community safety, please report this to the Police by calling 111. If there is an ongoing crime or serious incident, call 999.
Water supply
If you have problems with your water supply, contact Thames Water on 0800 316 9800. We are expecting dedicated contact details for this incident to be set up shortly and will make these available through our regular communications channels when possible.
Further advice on businesses recovering from flooding:
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Changes to the Pavement Licence for Hospitality Businesses in East Soho: It has been necessary, for public safety reasons, to make changes to the way in which premises in East Soho may use the space allocated by the Pavement Licence and the Al Fresco scheme. From Monday 19 July, businesses in East Soho will only be able to place tables and chairs on the highway in the area designated on the plan attached to the pavement licence. This means that you will need to ensure that no gazebos, umbrellas, heaters, or other furniture is placed within the designated licensed area from this date, even if they are permitted by your licence, except tables and chairs.
This will apply to all premises in Frith, Greek, Dean, Moor, Bateman and Old Compton Streets in east Soho. Tables and Chairs licences issued under the City of Westminster Act 1999, on the footpath, are not affected by this change. Please remember this is a matter of public safety. As of Monday 19 July, we are seeking immediate compliance. It is therefore vital that your staff are also aware of these changes.
A letter about this change and the requirements associated with it has gone out from our Licensing Team to all hospitality premises in East Soho to which this is applicable.
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Soft Launch of the Business Readiness Toolkit: Westminster City Council, in partnership with the West End Security Group (WESG), is launching the pilot of the Business Readiness Toolkit.
While many Westminster businesses are experienced in business continuity, emergency preparedness and accounting for the impacts of major incidents, there are many that are not. The Council recognises that there is a lack of support for businesses in this area, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places a duty on local authorities to provide business continuity advice and support to local businesses. Therefore, there is both a need and requirement to support businesses to assess the risks to their businesses an develop continuity plans in order to become more resilient. The implications of minimal support provision in this area is costly to all, not just to the business community. Businesses, jobs and safety can be put at risk, and also drives up the cost of goods, services and insurance. These effects are felt disproportionately by smaller enterprises which make up the majority of businesses in the City.
The main objective of this toolkit is to support and empower businesses to understand the risks that they may face, and to develop plans to mitigate or respond to them. In doing so, Westminster’s businesses will become individually and collectively more resilient and better able to respond and recover. The pilot will last several months, after which we will evaluate the outputs and benefits of the initiative with the intention of rolling this out as a Westminster-wide Business Readiness Framework.
During the next few months we will be working with Soho-area businesses on this pilot. For more information about the toolkit, please contact the Westminster Business unit by email at businessunit@westminster.gov.uk or via telephone on 020 7641 2070.
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Help Shape our Climate Action Plan: The climate emergency is one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime. Westminster has some of the highest carbon emissions and worst air pollution in the UK. To avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, urgent action is needed. We want to create a shared action plan to set out how we will achieve net-zero by 2040. As well as residents, it’s vital that the priorities and views of local businesses are reflected.
We have created a series of draft recommendations and want your feedback. We also want to hear your ideas for community projects and action. Let us know your views through our short online survey or by attending any of our workshops and drop-in event taking place throughout the summer. Click here for full details of how you can be involved.
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Supporting Westminster’s ‘Hidden Gems’: Small businesses are the backbone of local economies, and have been some of the hardest hit by the ongoing pandemic. In the tourism and hospitality industry alone, almost 80% of small businesses were unable to adapt at the start of the pandemic, and some 60% report their premises have remained closed one year on.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB London) is launching the #MyHiddenGems social media campaign, shining a spotlight on small businesses and their stories, encourage as many as possible to be part of the reopening and summer holiday plans. FSB London would like you to share across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, photographs, videos and other general support for the small businesses you frequent, using the #MyHiddenGems tag. The campaign launches on Monday 19 July and runs throughout the summer.
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Support for Your Business
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Financial Support for Ethnically Diverse Owned Businesses: The Back2Business Grant Programme is awarding £10,000 to small businesses with ethnically diverse ownership that have been impacted by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The aim of the programme is to help stabilise and grow businesses through a mixture of consulting services and financial support. Find out more and apply today.
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Grants Available for Tech and Creative Firms: Funding support is also currently available to help technology and creative businesses through the provision of apprenticeships and training and employment opportunities. The fund closes to applications on 5 August at 5pm. Find out more and apply today.
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Grants for Sustainable Businesses: ReLondon has opened applications for a grant of £10,000-15,000 for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) implementing a circular economy pilot that is aligned with ReLondon’s five circular business models. Applications are open until 18 July with pilots expected to be running from September and October. ReLondon is also looking to support forward-thinking businesses to help them emerge stronger from the pandemic and be ready to prosper in a circular economy. It is running a series of introductory workshops designed to help businesses identify opportunities that could cut costs or explore new revenue streams. Businesses can submit an expression of interest and intake will be on a rolling basis until October.
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Helping Businesses and Young People Prepare for London’s Future: On Thursday 11 July at 11am, join the Young Westminster business community for their quarterly webinar on how Westminster’s businesses and young people can prepare for London’s future. The panel includes representatives from our Economic Development and Regeneration team, Centre for London, New West End Company and EY Foundation. Reserve your place.
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Getting Your Business Digital ready: Are you looking to recruit new digital talent for your business? Westminster City Council’s Adult Education and Employment Services will be hosting an event for businesses that want to find out more about these opportunities. To register your interest, please email Joseph Ikusika at jikusika@westminster.gov.uk.
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London Business Hub Property Advice Service Programme: Are you a small to medium-sized business in London looking for FREE advice on business rates, understanding your lease, landlord negotiations and finding commercial premises in these troubling times? The London Business Hub’s Property Advice Service is offering FREE masterclasses and one-to-one sessions on managing your commercial space.
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For more information to advise and support your business, Westminster City Council, the UK Government and the community can help:
Whilst we are dealing with a greater volume of queries than usual, if you need bespoke advice, don’t hesitate to contact our Business Unit to get appropriate help. |
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