Business Support

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has ended its 'interrupted days' provisions and is now working to its usual deadlines. The IPO introduced extended deadlines, known as interrupted days, on 24 March 2020 as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. An 'interrupted day' is defined as a day in which the normal course of business at the IPO is not possible. This meant that most deadlines for patents, supplementary protection certificates, trademarks, designs and applications for these rights, which fell on an interrupted day were extended.

Following the IPO’s latest review, the first normal day of operation when all interrupted days deadlines expire was 30 July 2020. The IPO has also announced that it is working on measures to ease burdens on business following the end of the period of interruption.

This includes the following temporary fee changes from 30 July 2020 to 31 March 2021 in relation to patents, Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs), trademarks and registered designs:

• fees for extensions of time will be zero
• there will be no surcharge for payment of a patent application fee after the date of filing
• fees to apply for reinstatement and restoration will be zero
• for patents and designs, there will be no surcharge for payment of a late renewal fee
• for trademarks, the surcharge for payment of a late renewal fee will be £1
• there will be no additional fee for late payment of SPC fees

The deadlines for completing actions, requesting extensions of time and paying fees are not affected by these fee changes and must still be complied with. There will also be continued alterations to hearings and Company Names Tribunal’s services.

A new £500 million scheme to kickstart film and television production struggling to secure insurance for COVID-related costs has been launched. This scheme will help TV and film productions that have been halted or delayed by a lack of insurance to get back up and running. The funding will be available to all productions made by companies where at least half of the production budget is spent in the UK and is estimated to cover more than 70% of the film and TV production market to the end of the year.

Last month, the government unveiled a new £1.57bn support package (known as the Culture Recovery Fund) to help protect the futures of venues including museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues.

More details of how organisations can apply for £880 million in grants as part of the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund have also been announced. This fund offers financial support for cultural organisations that were financially stable before COVID-19 but are now at imminent risk of failure.

Unless the Chancellor comes up with replacement funding for the furlough scheme, and there is no sign that this will happen, those businesses that have maintained their workforce by furloughing staff will face difficult choices when the present Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme closes down at the end of October.

Do we keep staff on in the hope that business will improve? Or is this so unlikely that laying staff off is the only sensible alternative?

Much will depend on the market sector in which you trade.

Hospitality, tourism and many high street retailers will be especially challenged by the requirements to socially distance and quarantine as uncertainty regarding secondary waves of infection continue to disrupt attempts at planning for the future.

Ironically, it is planning that is required in order to make post-furlough choices. 

• What will be future demand for your products and services?
• How will your direct and fixed costs be affected?
• Do you need to shelve investment decisions?
• Are prospects so bleak that you need to consider closing down your business?
• And finally, if you can see a way forward, what staffing levels do you need to support the planned activity and what changes – lay-offs – do you need to make?

If you are undecided which way to jump, please call so we can help you consider your options. Sometimes an objective overview is required to see the wood for the trees.

The government has unveiled an important new law that will protect furloughed workers who are made redundant. This will ensure that any employee who was furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will receive their full basic statutory redundancy entitlement. This amount will be based on their normal wages, rather than the reduced furlough rate. The legislation came into effect on 31 July 2020.

Employees are normally entitled to statutory redundancy pay if they have been working for their current employer for 2 years or more. The exact amount of statutory redundancy pay they are entitled to is dependent on age and length of service (capped at 20 years).

The new law also affects other entitlements, including Statutory Notice Pay which must be based on normal wages rather than employees’ wages under the CJRS, and basic awards for unfair dismissal cases, which will be based on full pay rather than wages under the CJRS. The new legislation does not alter any enhanced redundancy pay provisions as part of an employee’s individual employment contract.

The government has also confirmed that other changes are coming into force that will ensure basic awards for unfair dismissal cases are based on full pay rather than wages under the CJRS.

Many will remember the empty shelves in supermarkets when lock-down commenced March 2020. In particular, the absence of toilet rolls…

Compare this with supplies of TVs and other luxury goods where there was no noticeable absence of supply.

These examples point to a basic economic theory; that a product with few substitutes (toilet rolls) and where demand is constant, is inelastic.

Products where there is no immediate, compelling need, chocolates or a new iPad, are said to be elastic from a demand perspective.

Why does this matter?

If you sell products that are demand inelastic – toilet rolls for example – there will be less resistance to price increases if supply becomes an issue. Witness the prices we all had to pay for loo-rolls when available earlier this year.

You might like to consider the range of goods and services that your business sells from this perspective.

If most of the goods you sell are demand elastic, price increases will tend to result in a lower volume of sales: customers will simply defer buying until prices reduce.

Alternatively, if supplies of inelastic goods start to reduce, sellers will be able to pass on price increases more effectively, as demand will remain constant. 

It is worth considering these basic facts of economic life when you next consider the range of goods you offer.

This may seem to be an odd question. They buy because you offer what they want at the right price?

But is that the only consideration?

For faceless organisations like the larger online retailers, customers benefit from the huge range of goods on offer, easy payment options and reviews from previous buyers.

Competing on these terms is difficult for smaller businesses which prompts the question, what can we offer our customers aside from providing what they need at the right price?

One point of difference is that smaller businesses have an opportunity to develop person to person relationships that are not available on a larger scale. Prior, to the recent lock-down, proprietors will have met their customers face-to-face. They will have shared experiences of working in their local business community; they will get to know their customers, how they run their businesses, which goods and services they need.

Micro-sized businesses should exploit this ability to know their customers as larger organisations cannot compete at this level.

What we are discussing in this article is about developing working relationships with your clients that make them feel at home when they pick up the phone to buy from you. You will know their name, their back-ground, their previous buying patterns. Larger organisations may be able to duplicate some of this familiarity by automating past order processes, but there is no substitute for that person to person exchange that builds business friendships and locks-in goodwill.

And so, the next time a customer rings, take an extra minute to ask a couple of open questions: how are you, how is business? And pick-up on past conversations, did you manage to sort out that job you discussed last month?

As long as you get the basics right, supplying goods and services at the agreed price and delivery date, then your relationship with your customers will encourage loyalty and help you build and retain a solid client base for your business.

The government has confirmed that the next business rates revaluation in England will be postponed until April 2023. The government has previously announced that the revaluation that was due in 2021 would be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic but no date had been announced. The revaluation in April 2023 will be based on property values on 1 April 2021.

The new revaluation date means that business rates will be based on property rental values that better reflect the impact of the pandemic. As with any revaluation there are winners and losers and this delay will benefit some businesses and hinder others. 

The revaluation of business rates usually happens every 5 years and is necessary to reflect changes in the property market. The last revaluation came into effect in England and Wales on 1 April 2017, based on rateable values from 1 April 2015. The revaluation does not raise additional revenue for the Exchequer as the multiplier applied to the property value is reduced accordingly. The downside of this delay is that rate bills will continue to be based on now historic 2015 values until April 2023.

The government has also launched a call for evidence on reforming the system. The government is aware that many businesses and stakeholders may need extra time to pull together a full response to all of the issues and so is seeking responses in two phases.

Phase One is asking for views on the multiplier and reliefs sections, as well as any other areas of pressing concern. These need to be submitted by 18th September followed by responses on all other sections by 31 October. The review is expected to conclude in Spring 2021.

Most retail, leisure and hospitality occupiers are currently receiving 100% Retail Rate Relief as part of the government support measures to help the economy cope with the effect of the pandemic. However, it is not known what if any reliefs will be announced from April 2021.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced the gradual reopening of indoor theatres and other live performance venues from 1 August 2020. The venues will need to follow strict social distancing measures and perform to a limited audience.

This announcement marks the move to stage 4 of the government’s 5-stage road map for the return of professional performing arts. The next stage will see a further increase in the audience numbers allowed at indoor venues.

Although for many venues it will not be financially viable to open with a reduced audience this is nonetheless a positive step forward for the arts and culture sector.

Guidance for the performing arts published earlier this month also sets out further measures to support the safe return of audiences, including:

• Reduced venue capacity and limited ticket sales to ensure social distancing can be maintained
• Tickets will be purchased online and venues encouraged to use e-tickets to reduce contact and help with track and trace
• Venues should have clearly communicated social distancing marking in place in areas where queues form and adopt a limited entry approach
• Increased deep cleaning of auditoriums
• Performances should be scheduled to allow sufficient time to undertake deep cleaning before the next audience arrives
• Performers, conductors, musicians must observe social distancing wherever possible

This announcement follows the launch of a new £1.57bn government support package aimed at protecting the futures of venues including museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues. The support will be made available using a combination of emergency grants and loans.

The Eat Out to Help Out scheme to help encourage the struggling restaurant sector was announced as part of the Chancellor’s Summer Economic Update earlier this month. The scheme is designed to help restaurants recover from the effects of the lockdown. The scheme officially launches on 3 August 2020 and will be available every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until 31 August 2020.

A new restaurant finder service is also being launched to help find local restaurants that are participating in the scheme.

Meals that are eaten in at any participating restaurant on the designated days will be 50% off up to a maximum discount of £10 per head including children. The discount will also apply to non-alcoholic drinks but cannot be claimed on alcoholic drinks or service charges. You can use the scheme multiple times and there is no minimum spend. Diners at a participating restaurant will not require a voucher to use the scheme and can use it at the same time as other offers and discounts.

All restaurants, pubs and bars can apply to take part in the scheme and display posters showing they are part of the scheme. Restaurants need to register online in order to participate. Once registered, they will discount your meal and claim the money back from the government. The specified days for using the scheme are typically the quieter trading days of the week so this should further help boost restaurants takings.

High Street retailers will have watched with dismay as competitors take their market share – not by businesses in their local business community – but globally, as consumers in the UK switch their attention from shopping trips to online retailers.

In the coming months, and perhaps longer term, footfall is unlikely to increase due to social distance restrictions and reluctance on the part of shoppers to step outside their protective family bubbles.
And this trend could spread to other business sectors.

Businesses selling goods or services might be advised to revisit their websites and see what can be done to improve or introduce online order and payment facilities. There are countless eCommerce solutions out there.

Obviously, you need to be selling something that is desired. You need to be competitively priced and have a delivery solution that moves your goods to your customer rather than waiting for your customer to collect.  

Enhancing your online footprint is almost always a win-win investment. Speak to your website developer. If they are reluctant to embrace the online shopping idea speak to a developer that is…

And if you are concerned by the cost of the improvements by all means call so we can help you crunch the numbers and consider what funding requirements you could consider.