Reopening your business
Is your business ready to reopen? Make sure you familiarise yourself with government guidelines to help keep your customers and employees safe
Businesses planning to reopen have a legal responsibility to protect their staff and customers and should only reopen if they can follow safety guidelines.
You can use this online guide to find out what you need to do to make your premises safe www.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-reopening.
The government has announced that even more businesses including pubs and restaurants, hairdressers and museums can reopen from 4 July. Read more.
Click here to view the guidance for hospitality reopening.
ADVICE AND GUIDANCE
View the latest guidance for people who work in or run shops, branches, stores or similar environments here and view the timeline for retail reopening here.
Non-essential retail including shops selling clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books, and electronics, plus tailors, auction houses, photography studios, and indoor markets, will be expected to be able to reopen from 15 June if the government's five tests are met and they follow the COVID19 secure guidelines.
Businesses will only be able to open from these dates once they have completed a risk assessment, in consultation with trade union representatives or workers, and are confident they are managing the risks. They must have taken the necessary steps to become COVID-19 secure in line with the current Health and Safety legislation.
5 steps to working safely - practical actions for businesses to take based on 5 main steps
The 5 steps compliance poster can be downloaded here.
The government is taking action to help businesses re-open and protect their staff and customers, including:
- working with local authorities to continue to carry out spot checks and follow up on concerns by members of the public
- publishing updated COVID-secure guidelines for people who work in or run shops, branches and stores
The new measures to protect UK high street from aggressive rent collection and closure - details can be found here.
Guidance for food businesses - view the Government guidance for food businesses and the coronavirus.
New guidance on construction working hours can be found here.
Phased reopening for Midlands dentists - dental practices in the Midlands will begin to reopen on Monday (8 June) for face-to-face appointments that are pre-booked by phone or email. The reopening is likely to be phased as practices assess the work needed to prioritise the safety of patients and staff. Please click here for further information.
The short video below provides some tips for shops and branches.
RESOURCES
The below resources include messages for staff and customers and can be downloaded and printed as required via Dropbox or wetransfer.
If you have trouble downloading them or require physical copies please email: capa.admin@dudley.gov.uk.
Download and print our town centre safety poster.
Download staff and customer advice posters via Dropbox.
Download staff and customer advice posters via wetransfer.
View all of the posters here.
NEW MEASURES IN TOWN CENTRES
To support the reopening of our town centres on Monday 15 June, we're implementing social distancing measures to help keep everyone safe. Please see below maps of the changes for each town centre.
Dudley 2 - central area and Market Place
Further information for Halesowen businesses can be found here.
Information on shopping centres:
The Churchill shopping centre Dudley www.thechurchillshoppingcentre.co.uk
The Cornbow shopping centre Halesowen www.cornbow.co.uk
Rymarket shopping centre Stourbridge www.ryemarketshoppingcentre.co.uk
TEST AND TRACE
The NHS test and trace service will help to manage the risk of the virus re-emerging as restrictions on everyday life are eased, as far as it is deemed safe to do so.
It is vital that employers play their part by:
- making their workplaces as safe as possible
- encouraging workers to heed any notifications to self-isolate and supporting them when in isolation
Find out more here.
TRAVEL ADVICE
As lockdown restrictions are lifted, West Midlands Network is advising all bus, train or tram users to stay up to date with the latest travel advice and consider making changes to their journey if possible to help keep public transport available for those who need it most. Watch the video here for the latest updates.
Additionally to help keep all users of public transport safe, a detailed video of how to stay safe and stay apart on public transport can be viewed here.
For further information, timetables and ticketing on public transport in the area visit wmnetwork.co.uk.
FREE parking is available on all council car parks until 1 August.
#OpenForBusiness CAMPAIGN
The Government is keen to help welcome back shoppers and celebrate the hard work businesses and retail workers are putting in to ensure their workplaces are COVID-19 Secure.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is encouraging business owners and shop workers to take photos in front of their ‘open’ sign and post these on their social media channels as part of the #OpenForBusiness Campaign.
To support the campaign, please do the following:
- Take a photo of yourself in front of your reopening business, preferably in
- front of an ‘Open’ sign
- Post the picture on your social media channels
- Use #openforbusiness
- Tag the Department for Business: Instagram: @beisgovuk / Twitter: @beisgovuk / Facebook: @industrialstrategygovuk
We are also looking for short self-shot videos of ‘a day in the life’ of staff in reopening businesses, so we can show the extra measures businesses are taking to keep employees and customers safe. If you think you, or a staff member would be interested in working with us on a video like this, please get in touch with nicky.henderson@beis.gov.uk.
Please check this page frequently for updated guidance and additional resources.