Ware business owners have spoken out about the negative impact of town centre social distancing measures on customer numbers and shop deliveries. One business owner says measures have been introduced too late. Ware Town Council is appointing a Town Centre Project Manager whom local business owners can contact if they need help. Similar complaints were made in previous weeks by businesses in Borehamwood and Hertford.

There continue to be reports in the press and from local government about the difficulty in maintaining social distancing boundaries as more businesses open up and activity levels increase in towns and cities.

Better Business for All (BBfA) is continuing to update its toolkit of guidance to help businesses to re-open and trade safely. Latest resources include guidance on cleaning business premises and supplying hand sanitiser, working safely in other people’s homes, and FAQs regarding risk assessment responsibilities. 

BBfA also reports that regulatory teams are awaiting further guidance from Government in response to queries from businesses, the support sector and BIDs on the use of outdoor seating, holding outdoor events and trading on the highway. Environmental Health teams have found that businesses are very receptive during their monitoring visits and are pleased to have support from their local councils. Trading Standards is continuing to receive requests from businesses for support with new COVID-19 regulations, as well as complaints from the public about businesses that are trading but should be closed.

Wenta’s petition to extend cash grants to businesses outside of small business rates relief, which has so far achieved 25,621 signatures nationwide, has seen positive progress with a HM Treasury report published on 15 June urging Government to act on the gaps in support for small businesses during lockdown. 

Funding available in Hertfordshire 

Volunteer Business Support Scheme: LEP funded - advice and support from a network of business mentors for firms adversely affected by COVID-19. Businesses are now being matched with mentors and receiving advice as part of the scheme. If your business would like to receive support, please contact Hertfordshire Growth Hub.

Hertfordshire Business Expansion Grant Scheme: ERDF & LEP funded - grants of £10,000 - £100,000 to incentivise SME investment in capital equipment. 

Crowdfund Hertfordshire: Small Business Innovation Fund: LEP funded - grants of up to £5,000 for small/micro businesses in tourism, leisure, hospitality, retail, arts and culture. 

Herts LEP SME Growth Loan Scheme: LEP funded – loans of £200,000 – £500,000 available to established SMEs in Hertfordshire that require finance to implement expansion activities that will deliver substantial growth.

Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2: ERDF funded - a £22m+ tri-LEP investment initiative led by the University of East Anglia and Norfolk County Council, to support SMEs that are making a positive impact on greenhouse gas reduction through the development of innovative technologies, products or services. 

More Hertfordshire and UK-wide funding opportunities are available. Businesses struggling to access funding can register with Hertfordshire Growth Hub for free to explore over 1,000 live funding opportunities via its GrantFinder portal, which can be found within the Knowledge Bank. 

The Growth Hub's COVID-19: Respond, Adapt and Strengthen survey is taking stock of how Hertfordshire businesses are dealing with the pandemic. Give your feedback to help shape the business support services that will be provided in the county over the coming weeks.

Airbus Defence and Space (Stevenage) has donated 60,000 surgical masks to Stevenage Borough Council to support staff delivering essential services to local residents and businesses.

Harpenden-based firm Vortex Designs, which normally supplies company uniforms, is providing non-medical PPE and protective clothing to support the fight against COVID-19 in the UK and Sri Lanka, where its products are manufactured.

A spate of businesses have announced their planned re-opening in July: 

• Hollywood Bowl Group (Hemel Hempstead) will open its 54 centres across England from 4 July.
• Tring-headquartered pub chain Oakman Inns (pictured) will re-open all of its sites on 4 July, including The Beech House in St Albans, The Red Lion in Hemel Hempstead, The Kings Arms Hotel and The Penny Farthing Hotel in Berkhamsted. 
• Cineworld will reopen all of its cinemas in England on 10 July, including branches in Watford, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead. 

SEC Group (Stevenage) has acquired The CleanRoom Company to form a specialist division dedicated to the design and installation of cleanroom environments to support the pharma, agri-tech, specialist engineering and manufacturing sectors, among others.

Trampoline park Air Space Stevenage has announced it will not re-open once lockdown restrictions are lifted. The owners were unable to agree a new lease term and were given notice to leave the premises.

Stevenage-based financial planning firm Richmond House Wealth Management has been acquired by London-headquartered Independent Wealth Planners (IWP). Richmond House is set to become IWP's regional hub in Hertfordshire.

Development finance lender Magnet Capital (Elstree) recorded its best month ever since launching in 2018, with a 33% increase in new business in May 2020.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, which has a base in Borehamwood, has raised more than £520m to seize opportunities created by the disruption in the land market as a result of COVID-19. 

Builder’s merchant Travis Perkins, which also owns Toolstation and Wickes, is set to close 65 stores across the country and cut 2,500 jobs (equivalent to approximately 8% of its store portfolio and 9% of its total workforce). The company expects the recession to negatively impact on trade for at least two years. In Hertfordshire, Travis Perkins has branches in Bushey, Bricket Wood, Borehamwood, Hemel Hempstead, and St Albans.

UK factories have returned to growth this month as the COVID-19 recession eases. The ‘flash’ manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Manager’s Index) has jumped to 50.1 this month from 40.7 in May (with a reading above 50.0 indicating expansionary activity). Activity across the services sector is still shrinking, but at a slower rate, with a PMI of 47.0, up from 29.0 in May.

HM Treasury's average of independent forecasts (June) suggest there will be a 9.2% economic contraction in 2020 followed by 6.5% growth in 2021. The monthly average of forecasts also predicts that the ILO unemployment rate will reach 7.9% in 2020, reducing to 6.6% in 2021. 

Manufacturing output is at a record low in the first quarter of 2020. The most recent Confederation of British Industry survey data suggests that British industrial output shrank at an unprecedented pace in the three months to June as COVID-19 heavily disrupted operations - its gauge of industrial output was down to -57 for the last quarter, from -54 a month ago, the lowest since the measure started in July 1975.

Responses from Wave 6 of the Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey indicates that the main sectors to have reported a decrease in turnover of more than 50% were the accommodation and food service activities sector (66%), the arts, entertainment and recreation sector (64%), and the construction sector (38%).

Tourism and hospitality: Visit Herts has published a guidance page for businesses allowed to reopen from 4 July following Government's announcement of the easing of specific lockdown restrictions within England. This page will be updated regularly as new guidance becomes available. 

Retail: Retail sales showed a rebound in May, rising 12% month-on-month - a significant improvement compared to the 18% contraction in April. Retail sales were 13.1% lower compared to May 2019, but still an improvement on the 22.7% annual decline logged in April. The proportion of retail spending online hit a record 33.4% in May - higher than the first full month of lockdown in April, when online sales accounted for 30.8% of spending.

Of all the UK businesses that responded to Wave 6 of the Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey, 79% had been trading for more than the last two weeks, 5% had started trading again within the last two weeks after a pause in trading, 5% has intended to restart within the next two weeks, with the remainder temporarily closed, paused or ceased trading. From 18 May to 31 May 2020, 65% reported that their turnover had been lower than normal in the last two weeks.

Investment intentions appear to be cooling, with a drop in the volume and value of private equity deals reflecting a degree of caution by investors as they take stock of prevailing economic conditions and the impact on existing business models. Data from Beauhurst shows that 16 Hertfordshire companies received investment funding totalling £8.2m in Q2 of the 2020 calendar year - a drop compared to 25 companies and £22.8m investments in the same period in 2019, and representing the lowest level of private equity investment for this period within the last three years.

Claimant unemployment in Hertfordshire has increased by 170% since March. There were 38,755 unemployment benefit claimants in Hertfordshire in May 2020 – a claimant rate of 5.2%, compared to 14,370 claimants in March 2020 (a 1.9% claimant rate). Claimant unemployment has increased by 221% year-on-year (from May 2019 to May 2020).

East Hertfordshire experienced the largest increase in claimant unemployment, up by 252% since March 2020, from 1,135 claimants to 2,485 claimants in May. The next highest increase was in Broxbourne, up by 185% between March to May 2020, from 1,435 claimants to 2,545.

ONS data shows that there were an estimated 476,000 vacancies in the UK from March to May 2020. This is 342,000 fewer than in the previous quarter and 365,000 fewer than a year earlier. Experimental single-month estimates indicate a decrease of approximately 60% of vacancies in May 2020 compared with March 2020. Online vacancies were down 40% compared to 2019.