Welcome to 'A little ME time' a brand new concept business at 58 The Mall.

Opening a new business is a challenge, but to be presented with a nationwide lockdown as you put the key in the door, will be a dine out story for years to come!

We welcome Mia, a young mum, who wanted to provide a coffee shop environment for new mums of very young children so they could socialise with other young mums while their children explored safely.

COVID has delayed the final refurbishment and the official opening, but I think it will be a hit with children, who will love putting their hands on the paintwork and watching their handprints appear in colours, it feels so naughty but such fun!

Phase two of the easing of lockdown and the opening of non-essential retail was actioned without drama and was a bit quieter than anticipated.

Trepidation over queuing was in the main unfounded as shoppers showed patience and respect for the social distancing guidelines.

However, a few retailers have expressed concerns, over their neighbouring business queues impacting on the access to their premises.

As more retailers open, we urge everyone to be respectful of the businesses around them. If necessary, introduce measures to limit your queue, by either extending your opening hours, limiting the length of the queue, or giving people time slots, forcing them to come back later.

Phase three if all goes well on July 4th will see bars, restaurants and hairdressers opening to the enormous relief of many.

The customer experience will be very different, but hopefully, through trial, error and some good humour, customer satisfaction will be delivered.

Encourage your customers to support your efforts on social media to report how they had a safe and welcome customer experience in Ealing. Word of mouth will be the fastest way to alleviate fearfulness and will be the stimulus to encourage footfall back on the street.

The guidance legislation changes daily; we will continue to update our business toolkit here.

The medical science is still two metres or one-metre plus. The plus means mitigating factors in place, such as compulsory face masks and hand sanitising stations, not a few extra inches of floor space separating people!

So be warned, as Health & Safety officers will be looking for the mitigating factors if you are promoting one-metre social distancing. You can read the government guidelines here

Make sure you have your Health & Safety risk assessments in place. We have a template and giudelines here, which can be adapted or look for something more specific on the H&S website. We can add your risk assessment to your directory listing on our website, to satisfy online accessibility issues. See example here.

Health & Safety officers, are duty-bound by law to check that COVID specific risk assessments are in place for premises open for business during this period.  

If you are concerned about COVID compliance issues or require additional advice, the Health and Safety Executive's Coronavirus (COVID-19): Working safely  enquiry service via the online form or telephone service 0300 790 6787 (lines are open Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 8 pm) may be able to help.

The council have also set up a specific contact email to deal with business COVID enquiry issues covid19businesscompliance@ealing.gov.uk

Sources of further advice and guidance can be found here:

- Guidance for customer-facing shops and branches - Advice on being COVID Secure
- How to carry out a risk assessment
- Example of a risk assessment
- How to reduce the risk and control Legionella

Government information shows Ealing council is topping the charts for handing out the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants (RHLGF).

The council identified and paid a total of 5,410 businesses the sum of £74,320,000

Applications for The Discretionary Business Grant Scheme will close on July 2nd.

The grants will only go to businesses.

- with ongoing fixed building-related costs
- which can demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in  income due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis
- that were trading on March 11th 2020.

You can apply here

Diageo, global leaders in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits and beer have announced a new global fund called 'Raising The Bar' to support pubs and bars in welcoming customers back following the COVID-19 pandemic.  (not to be confused with the UK campaign #RaiseTheBar)

Through Raising The Bar, Diageo is investing $100m globally, $35m in Great Britain, to support outlets to implement new hygiene measures, provide digital support and practical equipment to transform how their venues will work when they re-open. Find out more here

Saturday 4th of July will finally bring back a buzz to our High Street, as getting a hair cut or enjoying a physical drink with friends is one of the few things we can't do online!

The covid spike in Leicester is a timely reminder of how quickly we can fall back into lockdown, so vigilance and attention to sanitising details are imperative.

Let's make sure we whack-a-mole any resistance to following the guidelines so we can be confident of delivering a safe and enjoyable experience to all our customers and visitors.

Until our next update, please stay safe & well.

Natasha is still on furlough, so if you have any queries, please contact Gerry by email or call 07943 720227