Businesses surprisingly operating/ not operating
Discussion
We are in unusual times. I have been amazed at the businesses still operating and those which have shut. I had my car MOT and two tyres fitted, The alloy wheel refurbishing company local are still working. I submitted a motorcycle for MSVA they are not open. I approached a mini digger owner driver about a couple of days work in an isolated field, he is not working. It is so unpredictable.
What is your experience?
What is your experience?
Esure
They seem to have just abandoned ship. Can't phone, can't get the stupid live chat to work, no reply on social media accounts.
I need to sort my insurance out! Their renewal figure is a bit rich and if I quote on their site, it's cheaper. I wanted to see if they would match themselves. I guess as I didn't tick auto renewal I can just let it lapse and then sign up again,?
They seem to have just abandoned ship. Can't phone, can't get the stupid live chat to work, no reply on social media accounts.
I need to sort my insurance out! Their renewal figure is a bit rich and if I quote on their site, it's cheaper. I wanted to see if they would match themselves. I guess as I didn't tick auto renewal I can just let it lapse and then sign up again,?
Sambucket said:
Pretty mad isn’t it. I’m faced with prospect of furloughig a biz that could probably stay open at a push. Either Gov massively messed up the JRS forecasts, or they are just warming us up for a situation where no one can work.
If you could stay open at a push, why don't you? There are a lot of people in the NHS that are having to do a bit more than a "push". GT03ROB said:
Sambucket said:
Pretty mad isn’t it. I’m faced with prospect of furloughig a biz that could probably stay open at a push. Either Gov massively messed up the JRS forecasts, or they are just warming us up for a situation where no one can work.
If you could stay open at a push, why don't you? There are a lot of people in the NHS that are having to do a bit more than a "push". But me aside, my point was, at a national level, this is going to have unintended effects. Unless they want businesses to close, which is possible too.
moles said:
They f
ked up big time offering 80%. Employers that want free cash are just furloughing staff because they can.
3 local bakers have shut shop purely because staff have all left. Bakers gutted and cant supply all the shops. They was working fine until the 80% was announced and suddenly everyone came down with a case of covid19. Coincidence? Doubt it.ked up big time offering 80%. Employers that want free cash are just furloughing staff because they can. Sambucket said:
GT03ROB said:
Sambucket said:
Pretty mad isn’t it. I’m faced with prospect of furloughig a biz that could probably stay open at a push. Either Gov massively messed up the JRS forecasts, or they are just warming us up for a situation where no one can work.
If you could stay open at a push, why don't you? There are a lot of people in the NHS that are having to do a bit more than a "push". But me aside, my point was, at a national level, this is going to have unintended effects. Unless they want businesses to close, which is possible too.
Otispunkmeyer said:
Esure
They seem to have just abandoned ship. Can't phone, can't get the stupid live chat to work, no reply on social media accounts.
Issue is going to be the call centres where social distancing rules will mean the staff numbers have been significantly reduced and its more difficult to give them home working capability. Probably best to email although time I guess is not on your side.They seem to have just abandoned ship. Can't phone, can't get the stupid live chat to work, no reply on social media accounts.
We are still working, slightly reduced staff but still operating as near as possible to normal in terms of capacity.
Our issue is most of our suppliers have shut. So when we run out of stock we are done.
I think too many businesses closed up when they did not need too. The "lock down" was aimed at retail, obviously to stop mixing of people.
But businesses could keep going with some minor changes. For example what we have done:
All staff to keep 2m away.
Closed for collections, delivery only. Drivers doing delivery "contactless" and keeping >2m.
Use radios to communicate from truck cab to yard guys, once you are in your cab you stay in it.
Staff break room, only 1 person at once and has to be wiped down (basically its unused now as no one wants to wipe it down).
Only 1 person at a time to come to office for anything and must keep 2m.
Drivers taking their dinner out on the road.
Home time we all leave separately and via the main gates, I then close up and wipe down all the door handles on my way out and shut the main gate.
The main issue we are having now is we are starting to see staff getting a bit shirty. They think they should be sat at home on 80%. They cant understand, despite my detailed explanation, that if we do that there will be no job when they come back. They also cant understand that try getting a job in August when there are possibly millions of other people looking for work. I keep getting asked how long before we close.. literally 10 times a day.
80% is too much. For retail who *have* to close then I think its ok. For other sectors it should have been 50%. Its caused supply chains to fail where really it did not need to shut down.
I am trying to get to a point where we can possibly take a 3-4 week close down and come back when most of our suppliers do also and then the business can survive.
Running a seasonal business is demanding enough in normal times if we get bad weather etc it can have a big impact but this literally could not have come at a worse time as we make 70% of our money in April and May so we don't really have a choice right now we have to battle through.
On the positive side, we are able to do about 30% more work per day due to there being zero traffic on the roads and still getting away for 5pm.
Another big issue for us is we don't qualify for SBRR and are not considered retail, so we get no BR help. I am also chasing my bank regarding the COVID loan scheme but getting nowhere.
With so much uncertainty the best thing we can do is try and get a week further down the road every week which increases our chances of surviving this.
Our issue is most of our suppliers have shut. So when we run out of stock we are done.
I think too many businesses closed up when they did not need too. The "lock down" was aimed at retail, obviously to stop mixing of people.
But businesses could keep going with some minor changes. For example what we have done:
All staff to keep 2m away.
Closed for collections, delivery only. Drivers doing delivery "contactless" and keeping >2m.
Use radios to communicate from truck cab to yard guys, once you are in your cab you stay in it.
Staff break room, only 1 person at once and has to be wiped down (basically its unused now as no one wants to wipe it down).
Only 1 person at a time to come to office for anything and must keep 2m.
Drivers taking their dinner out on the road.
Home time we all leave separately and via the main gates, I then close up and wipe down all the door handles on my way out and shut the main gate.
The main issue we are having now is we are starting to see staff getting a bit shirty. They think they should be sat at home on 80%. They cant understand, despite my detailed explanation, that if we do that there will be no job when they come back. They also cant understand that try getting a job in August when there are possibly millions of other people looking for work. I keep getting asked how long before we close.. literally 10 times a day.
80% is too much. For retail who *have* to close then I think its ok. For other sectors it should have been 50%. Its caused supply chains to fail where really it did not need to shut down.
I am trying to get to a point where we can possibly take a 3-4 week close down and come back when most of our suppliers do also and then the business can survive.
Running a seasonal business is demanding enough in normal times if we get bad weather etc it can have a big impact but this literally could not have come at a worse time as we make 70% of our money in April and May so we don't really have a choice right now we have to battle through.
On the positive side, we are able to do about 30% more work per day due to there being zero traffic on the roads and still getting away for 5pm.
Another big issue for us is we don't qualify for SBRR and are not considered retail, so we get no BR help. I am also chasing my bank regarding the COVID loan scheme but getting nowhere.
With so much uncertainty the best thing we can do is try and get a week further down the road every week which increases our chances of surviving this.
Before criticising business for staying open you should try to understand how they are operating in these circumstances. The business next door supply classic car parts - they have closed their trade counter and all staff are working from home apart from a husband and wife couple who attend the warehouse to pack the orders. To me this seems like a very sensible strategy to allow the business to continue operating whilst minimising the spread of infection. Since 95% of their business is mail order their customers won't have seen a change in how their parts arrive.
Don't forget that we need as many businesses as possible to survive this. The rescue package has got to be paid for and that needs people in work....
Don't forget that we need as many businesses as possible to survive this. The rescue package has got to be paid for and that needs people in work....
Edited by voicey on Wednesday 22 April 16:28
We could still work (EV charger installer) but our industry is closely linked to the car industry. No new EVs, no new EV customers. We work outside 95% of the time and offices/workplaces are empty too. There's no restriction on working but, as said above, with 80% of salaries being paid many companies have just take the opportunity to close.
Has any business owner had a definitive answer on furlough eligibility though?
3/4 of our business is covered by the shutdown ( sales showroom) but workshop and parts are exemptions under garages and workshops we are operating at a much reduced level by mail order and dropbox style collections.
we are in trying to support key workers and frontline staff to keep people who need to move about moving and provide cashflow to keep the business going.
3/4 of our business is covered by the shutdown ( sales showroom) but workshop and parts are exemptions under garages and workshops we are operating at a much reduced level by mail order and dropbox style collections.
we are in trying to support key workers and frontline staff to keep people who need to move about moving and provide cashflow to keep the business going.
I think there is a lot of confusion amongst the general public / Facebook police about whether businesses are allowed to stay open, many seem to believe that they are only to remain open if they are providing essential services or are ‘key workers’ (I’m really starting to hate that phrase).
As long as you can adhere to the social distancing guidance and are not on the list of businesses the government listed must close then you’re free to keep operating, but I’m getting tired of trying to explain that to some people.
As long as you can adhere to the social distancing guidance and are not on the list of businesses the government listed must close then you’re free to keep operating, but I’m getting tired of trying to explain that to some people.
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