‘Reopening is risk despite grants’ Juliet Dennis
Agents welcomed Budget news of £5 billion in grants to ‘restart’ high street businesses but warned the handouts may not be enough to enable them to reopen like other non-essential shops on April 12. Agents will be entitled to non-
essential retail grants of up to £6,000 as businesses that could reopen from April 12, less than leisure and hospitality businesses which could receive up to £18,000. Restart Grants replace the current monthly Local Restrictions Support Grant from April. High street agents said grants
would help to pay for rent, staff and marketing, but fear opening when
cashflow remains low would be a risk. “We’re sitting tight,” admitted
Carolyn Park, director of three- branch agency C The World. “If we choose to reopen on
April 12, we have to pay staff, the furlough pay goes and we’re not earning anything. It’s difficult to plan. Grants are great but they don’t change the fact that, until people travel again, we’re not earning any money.” Martyn Fisher, managing director
of Greenstar Travel, agreed grants would be “extremely helpful” for bills but said being allowed to open shops on April 12 was a “double-edged sword” due to the costs incurred without guaranteed income. Polka Dot Travel director Mark
UK ‘driving’ travel restart but minister hedges on May 17
Ian Taylor
The reformed Global Travel Taskforce met with industry representatives for the first time on Tuesday at what was described as “a scene setter” meeting. But aviation minister Robert
Courts insisted the UK “is leading” travel’s restart in Europe. An airline source said: “We’re assured they won’t be sitting on this.” Abta was not at the meeting,
but provided input. Chief executive Mark Tanzer confirmed: “We’re fully part of the taskforce, as we were of the last, and all Abta
4 4 MARCH 2021
members will be fully represented.” Courts said travel would resume
“as soon as possible after” May 17, the earliest date for a restart in the government roadmap, when he appeared before the Transport Select Committee on Wednesday. He told MPs: “There won’t be any travel before May 17. We’ll look at travel restarting as soon as possible after that.” But he rejected suggestions “the
taskforce is a talking shop” and said: “I would push back on the suggestion we’re in any way behind our international partners. We’re leading on this. All you’re hearing from other countries is an intention to do
We’re looking
at a suite of factors – we need to work through some really complicated issues
something. I can’t give a blow-by- blow account of where we are, but we’re driving forward on this.” Courts confirmed the taskforce
report would go to the prime minister before its recommendations are made public and said: “We’re looking at a suite of factors, building
Grants are great
but don’t change the fact that, until people travel again, we’re not earning any money
Johnson said he would “possibly not” reopen branches on April 12, but may put staff on standby. He said grants were a “big help” for operational costs and marketing to re-establish the business with “fresh campaigns”. Henbury Travel owner Richard
Slater said “it again appears that the chancellor thinks travel agents will generate money as soon as we open”,
adding that he feared agents would have to “jump through hoops” to obtain the grants. Abta called for the grants to
be extended to travel companies without retail premises, such as tour operators, and homeworking agents, of which it has 12,000 members. The Advantage Travel Partnership
also called for “grants for all travel agents” and said about half its members would not qualify as they work from home or an office. Derek Moore, deputy chairman
of The Specialist Travel Association (Aito), agreed, saying many operator members had been turned down for lockdown grants because they didn’t have a high street presence.
Taskforce chairman
Grant Shapps
on the measures already in place. At this stage it would be premature to be too precise. We need to work through some really complicated issues.” The Department for Transport
said the taskforce would look at how “existing testing and isolation schemes could be used” and “be closely integrated” with the parallel review of vaccination certification. An airline source said: “There are
a lot of options flying around. “The government has been clear it
will be a phased reopening [and] we don’t see the dates shifting. “But they know the industry
needs as much warning as possible.”
travelweekly.co.uk
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