Lockdown 2 – Info, Support & Grants: 2nd November

Following Saturdays announcement of a further lockdown from Thursday, November 5th we know once again you face an array of information, questions, uncertainty and worry. As was the case last time, our resources and energy are entirely focused on supporting local businesses, and we have plans in place to do this.

For now, we have kept this brief as this week will be busy and we will continue to update you further in coming days. Please bookmark the following pages, as this is where we will also be posting regular updates and advice as this evolves:

Our first priority is to support you, so please get in touch if there is anything you wish to discuss. We have a variety of partners on hand who can help with any HR, furlough, financial or legal questions you may have. Related to the point below, we also offer digital support. In addition to the 80% furlough extension, further business grants have been announced here (para 4) so we have been in contact with Warwick District Council over the weekend to support the process of getting funds moving. We will update businesses as soon as we have any details.

For evening economy businesses, you may find this blog helpful. On the back of a tough summer and Christmas trading, we know the impact of this will be magnified for many and funding support will likely need to go further, so in the days ahead we will be working with local and national partners to understand and lobby for this. Your continued feedback is essential.

Secondly, we are about to launch our Christmas campaign. This will be focused on encouraging people to shop local where they can, and buying from local businesses who are online. To support this we direct customers to our www.loveleamington.com website to find out who is open, online and delivering in Leamington Town Centre. Please take a look. We are happy to link to your website, or Facebook Marketplace, Insta Shop or any online trading platform you use. Please get in touch if you need some support in this area too.

Reflecting this, here are some helpful actions for this week. Please email alison@bidleamington2022.mystagingwebsite.com to let us know if (after Thursday 5th)…

  1. Are you ‘open’? All ‘essential businesses’ will be listed on the Love Leam website homepage.
  2. Are you ‘trading online’, offering ‘click and collect’ ‘takeaway’ and/ or ‘delivering’? Please visit www.loveleamington.com … to see if your business is listed here.
  3. Get social – and we can help magnify your efforts. Please share your content with us, ‘tag’ us and use the relevant hash-tags. We have over 25,000 followers/ likes across our platforms. Join our Leamington Town Centre Facebook Group. The Royal Leamington Spa Town Centre Facebook page is where we showcase what you are now doing. We have nearly 13,000 followers @LeamingtonGuide and are active on Instagram – Leamington_Town_Centre. Popular Hashtags are #LoveLeam #TasteLeam #LeamDelivers.
  4. Don’t forget to tell your customers what you are doing and how much you love them and value their support.
  5. Please find attached some social media assets relating to ‘Shop Local’ and ‘Supporting Leam Online’. You are welcome to use these. We do not want Amazon to win.

Finally, we know this is an unsettling time. We are so proud of how hard we have seen businesses work, adapt, re-build and support each other – it’s amazing. However we know this takes its toll on business owners and staff. Wellbeing support for you and your team is available if you need advice, guidance or an ear, so please reach out to us or email business@warwickshire.gov.uk.

This was not the update we hoped for this morning as on balance, October has been a positive month for many. We really were bouncing back – and we will do it again. We have a variety of things planned for Christmas which we will update you on in the coming days and weeks.

For now, please consider the ‘asks’ above and please do not hesitate to pick up the phone. Alison and I are here and will do our best to signpost you to the information you need as it becomes available. You can phone us on 01926 470634 or please email: info@bidleamington2022.mystagingwebsite.com.

We will be in touch again very soon with further information.

Best wishes,

Steph & Alison