Listen to Shrewsbury BID’s Business Support Webinar

Shrewsbury BID’s Executive Director, Seb Slater is joined by Gemma Davies – Shropshire Council, Paul Bennett – Bennett Briegal LLP, Helen Ball – Shrewsbury Town Council, Edward Molewyn-Williams – TCA Accountants, and David Williams – Henshalls Insurance to answer your questions regarding the changing landscape in the face of Coronavirus.

Recorded 16.4.20

While the whole world suffers the impact of COVID-19, we have been working to support our local businesses and ensure that the town bounces back when the threat of the virus has calmed.

Shrewsbury BID’s priorities during this time are to:

• Work with Shropshire Council and industry partners so that eligible businesses can access the financial support that is being announced by the government as quickly as possible.
• Share accurate, relevant and timely information from central and local government with members as it becomes available.
• Continue to promote and support Shrewsbury businesses who are operating/trading through our Original Shrewsbury platforms.
• Urgently develop a new Shrewsbury online e-commerce platform which will allow the public to continue to support town centre businesses even if they cannot visit in person over the coming weeks. We are aiming for this to go live next week.
• Gather information from businesses regarding performance and the issues they are facing and sharing this data with our partners to lobby and make further requests to local and central government.

In addition to Covid-19 Employment Law Support, Shrewsbury BID members will also be able to access further business support specific to the pandemic in the coming weeks, including:

• Targeted webinars through partners to help member businesses adapt to the changing market
• Relevant and timely updates on Covid-19 announcements or changes affecting members
• A document resource library
• Sign-posting to relevant information sources and support services

We have setup three Facebook groups for Shrewsbury businesses to share information, challenges and ideas in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone working for a business in Shrewsbury is invited to join and contribute the groups which have been setup by sector.

Click the links below to join and let us know if there are other groups that you think it would be useful to setup.  If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can easily create one here.

COVID-19: Shrewsbury Retailers Group
COVID-19: Shrewsbury Hospitality & Leisure Group
COVID-19: Shrewsbury Office & Professional Services Group

Business Resources

Training

Google are offering free training through their Digital Garage, designed to help you grow your business with courses covering subjects such as getting your business online, SEO, digital marketing and more.

Click below for more information or to take a course.

Mental Health Support

The charity ‘Mental Health at Work’ have collated a toolkit of resources designed to help support you and your employees/colleagues whilst in isolation or working from home.

The toolkit covers the following:

Coronavirus and Your Wellbeing 

Working Well From Home Under Self-Quarantine for Coronavirus

Supporting Your Mental Health While Working From Home

Remote Working: a Practical Safety Guide for Businesses

Supporting Colleagues to Stay Mentally Healthy in Unusual Working Conditions

Guides to Wellness Action Plans