As shops, businesses and town centres look to open up again, the following may be helpful to circulate amongst your members and local trader groups.
Guidance on Opening
The government’s advice on re-opening for the different types of businesses in different sectors and settings is available here, noting the specific shops and branches advice.  The District Councils have also secured resources from government to facilitate re-opening support including safe-working checklists and you should review the respective district council websites for local information.
Resilience Programme
The County and District Councils have worked together with the East Midlands Chamber to develop a series of webinars to support businesses develop greater resilience in turbulent times. They are available on the events pages of the EMC’s website.
While not all are explicitly relevant to town centre traders / businesses – and some cover issues that relate to a wider agenda than CV-19 – they may prove helpful in supporting businesses think about their future development.  They are also promoted via the Growth Hub where businesses can review the wider events programme and the business support available.  Alternatively, you can call the Growth Hub on 0333 006 9178 for advice.
PPE Supply
While the published official and government guidance remains your first reference point, a number of businesses may require PPE to support themselves and their staff in re-opening safely.  You should firstly note that the latest Government guidance to shops and branches confirms that:
 “…When managing the risk of COVID-19, additional PPE beyond what you usually wear is not beneficial. This is because COVID-19 is a different type of risk to the risks you normally face in a workplace, and needs to be managed through social distancing, hygiene and fixed teams or partnering, not through the use of PPE.”
However, over the past few months, the County Council has developed its relationships with a number of suppliers in procuring PPE for its staff and care providers.  While not all will be able to supply outside of the NHS / local authority care services arena, and some may have a minimum order, if you are interested in a list of suppliers, please contact us at [email protected]
It should be stressed these are not County Council recommended suppliers and businesses may have their own routes to supply.  They are simply potential options should they be required.
Retailers and businesses within localities may wish to consider collaborating over bulk purchasing, and to assist with the development of this idea, an example of a co-operative approach to purchasing merits review is here.  This is self-evidently around food purchasing but the principle remains.
Finally, Social Enterprise UK has published a list of social enterprise PPE providers that may be of interest.

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