Coronavirus: Covid-19

Both our City Inspectors and security team continue to patrol the area and we are also working closely with the Met Police. This will enable the team to ensure the continued safety and security of employees where businesses are operating with a skeleton staff and to monitor buildings that have been temporarily closed. If you have any particular security concerns, please contact Rico Pieri, Area Manager rico.pieri@heartoflondonbid.co.uk

As police have now been given powers to enforce the lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, staff travelling to or from work may be stopped and questioned during their journey.

If your staff cannot work from home and are still required to travel to your business, they may do so as per Government direction. We have drafted a letter template which can be used as justification for this travel. Please complete this template following the directions below and share with your staff, which can be produced to police on request.

The template must be:
Filled in and signed by a responsible person at your company
Printed on a company letterhead to be carried by the member of staff

There is no action for you. However, local authorities may have to reissue your bill to provide this support. They will do this as soon as possible. Updated guidance for businesses can be found by clicking here and for local authorities by clicking here.

Individual grants of £10,000 will be made available through local authorities to businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) that already pay little or no business rates. You do not need to do anything. Your local authority will write to you if you are eligible for this grant. Any enquiries should be directed to the City of Westminster.

All employers, regardless of size or sector, will be able to apply for grants to cover 80% of furloughed employees salaries, up to a limit of £2,500 per individual, per month. The scheme will be sustained for at least three months with option to extend. There is no limit on funding for the scheme. An online service will be available to make the claim. This service is not yet available but will likely be available by the end of April 2020. We will send out further information when an update is available.

Most commercial insurance policies are unlikely to cover pandemics or unspecified notifiable diseases, such as COVID-19. However, the Government has confirmed that the business impact of government advice restricting individuals’ movements – and the knock-on impact on their financial activity – provides sufficient grounds for businesses to claim on their insurance where they have appropriate business interruption cover in place. Please check with your provider to check the terms and conditions of their policy.

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