Dear all
 
As the scale of the Coronavirus outbreak builds, so does its impact on our economy. We are critically aware of the difficulties faced by so many tourism businesses across Exmoor right now, given the need for people to stay home and stay safe.

We are making regular updates to our Coronavirus Business Support page whilst general statements from the National Park Authority regarding the situation and local response are being posted regularly here .

Share your views
Please do keep in touch with us and let us know how things are going. We are in regular contact with central Government through the family of National Parks, the Heart of the South West Economic Resilience Opportunities Group and bodies such as the Tourism Alliance.

In particular we would invite you all to participate in the VisitBritain/VisitEngland tracker survey, which they will be conducting regularly to monitor the impact on all aspects of the UK tourism industry.  The results will provide impact data to brief Ministers, the Government and COBR to help support the industry through these challenging times.  The current survey will close 17.00 Monday 30 March.

Business Support

Below is a summary of some of the main business support packages announced by Government to date.

  •  Giving all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses* in England a 100% business rate holiday for 12 months for the 2020/2021 financial year. This will be administered respectively by North Devon and Somerset West and Taunton Councils. Whilst initial bills were issued before this announcement  it is understood they aim to apply the enhanced discounts before the first installment is due and issue you with a new bill (which will be zero for qualifying establishments) - no action is required from you. 
  • Providing grants to small businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief of £10,000 (increased from the £3,000 originally announced) and providing further £25,000 grants to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses* operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000. These will be administered by Local Authorities who are currently awaiting detailed guidance from Government, and are not currently in a position to provide biliousness with further details until this is available.
  • Tailored opportunities to review and agree payment plans for tax liabilities for businesses and the self-employed. If you are concerned about being able to pay your tax due to COVID-19, call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559.
  • Bringing forward legislation to allow small and medium enterprises / employers to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19 with two weeks Statutory Sick Pay per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19. The government will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible
  • Mortgage lenders have agreed to support customers that are experiencing issues with their finances as a result of Covid-19 through mortgage payment holidays of up to 3 months.
  • Planning laws will be relaxed to support the food and drink industry offer alternative take away services for those self isolating without the need for a planning application.
  • Launching a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme of up to £5m, and ensuring businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as Government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments (extended from 6 months originally announced
  • The government is setting up a job retention scheme whereby employers can get a grant of 80% of the wages of staff that are not working up to a limit of £2,500 per month
  • VAT for all businesses will be deferred until the end of June and businesses will have until the end of the financial year to repay those bills
  • Self-employed people will be able to access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees
  • Protection for Commercial Tenants against eviction from landlords
* For a detailed definition of what constitutes a retail, hospitality or leisure business in this instance please see guidance here (PDF) - In summary it includes shops, hotels, B&Bs, holiday homes, caravan parks, tourist attractions, museums, historic houses, theatres, restaurants, sandwich shops, bars, takeaways, booking offices, and cinemas.

To find out more visit the Governments Business Support page. If you need advice, in the first instance, please contact the Heart of the South West Growth Hub or call 03456 047 047.

Planning for recovery
ENPA will be facilitating the development of what we hope will be a jointly owned Exmoor Tourism Recovery Plan in partnership with bodies such as Visit Exmoor and local tourism associations.

It will be more important than ever that we combine our weight, whilst still giving freedom for individual towns / villages to respond to their immediate priorities. At this stage it will be a live document as we're in a very fluid moment with the situation changing daily. This should however give us a strong starting point once we can plan for recovery with more certainty. We know from our experience with the likes of Foot and Mouth that when we pull together we can create a lasting legacy to build the sector back up.

Further details will follow shortly but in the meantime if you have ideas or suggestions to feed in then please email Katrina Munro .

Visit Exmoor are promoting 'Visit Exmoor. Later.' as the foundation to their current work. They are developing a #VirtualExmoor strategy to keep brand awareness of Exmoor alive in this time with inspirational and authentic digital content from those that live and work on the moor. ENPA will be joining forces to support this and supporting Visit Exmoor in developing a #ComeVisit campaign to boost domestic tourism in the aftermath.

We will also be supporting the VisitBritain's  #lovegreatbritain campaign.  


With all best wishes at this difficult time

Dan James
Sustainable Economy Manager