P&G Professional partners with Marco Pierre White to help holidaymakers 'safecation' this Summer

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Hospitality sector icon to help industry back on its feet as restrictions ease

   

 P&G Professional, the away-from-home division of Procter and Gamble, is partnering with legendary hotelier and restaurateur Marco Pierre White to help holidaymakers enjoy a ‘Safecation’ across the UK this summer.

With the country experiencing a boom in staycations while Brits opt to stay closer to home^[1], P&G Professional is on hand to help the industry get back on its feet with business driving tools, as lockdown restrictions gradually continue to lift.

Marco Pierre White, owner of The Rudloe Arms, a hotel set in 14 acres of Wiltshire countryside, is joining forces with P&G Professional to encourage business owners to try the CleanPLUS Experience. This stamp of approval from P&G Professional’s trusted household name brands – now including NEW Microban 24 Professional – serves as a mark of assurance for guests.

Independent hotels, guest-houses and B&Bs can prominently display the CleanPLUS Experience sticker – both physically and digitally – as a gold standard in hygiene, reassuring customers that an establishment has been cleaned to the highest levels using known and trusted brands.

Just as well since new research from P&G Professional reveals 22%^[2] are more likely to book a hotel or B&B if they know staff are using cleaning brands they trust. Cleanliness is clearly a top priority for holidaymakers enjoying a staycation in the UK this summer, with 70%^[3] researching comments on a venue’s hygiene before booking, compared to 40% pre-pandemic^[4].  In fact, the poll showed that despite one in two (52%) Brits being desperate to take a summer staycation, 50% have put off making a booking because of concerns over the hygiene and cleanliness of hotels and B&Bs³.

As part of the Safecation campaign, White will also leverage his years of experience to demonstrate what steps hoteliers can take to prepare their properties for increasing volumes of guests, at a time when cleanliness and hygiene is paramount.

Marco Pierre White said: “As all in the hospitality industry will know, the health and safety of our guests is of the utmost importance, which is why I’m partnering with P&G Professional to highlight the support the sector needs right now. Following a challenging time for many business owners, it’s fantastic to be able to reassure customers with a gold standard of excellence when it comes to cleanliness.”

Greg Elmore, UK & Ireland Country Sales Lead at P&G Professional, said: “Holidaymakers are eager to enjoy the summer but want assurances they can do so safely. As such, we’re launching

our Safecation initiative with Marco Pierre White as part of our ongoing efforts to help the hospitality sector after a tumultuous year.

“We hope to see the industry bounce back stronger than ever as it emerges from lockdown and we’re delighted to play our part through guidance and knowledge sharing, as well as our best-in-class products.”

To find out more about the CleanPLUS Experience, from P&G Professional’s trusted household name brands – Fairy, Flash and now NEW Microban 24 Professional- including applying for complementary materials and signage, call 0800 716 854 or visit www.pgpro.co.uk/cleanplus

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^[1] ‘UK Staycations 2021: A Year of Opportunities’, Colliers, May 2021

^[2] One Poll survey of 2,000 UK adults, June 2021

^[3] One Poll survey of 2,000 UK adults, June 2021

^[4] One Poll survey of 2,000 UK adults, July 2019

Covid-safe B&Bs are "self-contained" accom so should open on 12 April - delaying to 17 May will cost us £350 million

We believe that B&Bs, guesthouses and hotels operating under the Covid-safe protocols developed last year should be allowed to open on 12 April rather than 17 May.  That five weeks makes £350 million of difference to B&Bs and guesthouses in England.

Under the Government's "Roadmap" to opening for England, in Step 2, on 12 April earliest (p34 of Roadmap document): “Overnight stays away from home in this country will be permitted and self-contained accommodation - those that do not require shared use of bathing, entry/exit, catering or sleeping facilities - can also reopen [same household only]".

Five weeks later on Step 3, on 17 May earliest (p37): “Remaining accommodation, such as hotels, hostels and B&Bs” [can open]

The B&B Association has told UK Government officials that hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses have self-contained accommodation under the Covid-safe protocols agreed with Government last June.  These allow NO  shared bathrooms or shared catering facilities (eg shared kitchens).

The key issue therefore turns on the phrase “shared entry/exit” - which alone makes the difference (in the Government's official Roadmap) between opening on 12 April (if no shared entry/exit) and opening on 17 May.   That difference is five weeks of the Spring season - a huge amount of potential sales turnover for hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs.   Based on the ONS figures for our sector from 2019, we estimate that this five weeks equates to some £350 million of booking value (sales turnover) for B&Bs and guesthouses in England.

On a STRICT interpretation of “shared entry/exit”, ie that guests use the same entrance to access the building, almost all hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs do have “shared entry/exit”. However:

    •    The entrance and corridors are subject to Government-agreed Covid-safe cleaning Protocols; and
    •    Exactly the same criteria (shared entry/exit) applies to indoor leisure (including gyms), personal care premises, non-essential retail, indoor parent & child groups, and libraries and community centres - ALL of which ARE allowed to open in Step 2 on 12 April.

Last April, May & June a vast amount of work was undertaken on this, primarily by UK Hospitality, who developed Protocols for Covid-safe operation for hotels, which were agreed with the Cabinet Office.  We worked with them to adapt these to a B&B and guesthouse context - the guidance document is here.

It is designed to ensure social distancing in properties, and entails radical changes to breakfast service etc to ensure Covid transmission risks are minimised.

So we question whether hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs following the Covid-safe operating protocols agreed with Government should be subject to a further five weeks delay on reopening and lose a further £350 million, simply because guests use the same main entrance?   They pass through corridors cleaned to Covid safe standards, and stay in individual rooms, not mixing with other guests.

The management of such businesses will be ensuring that all touchpoints are cleaned appropriately, on the entrance itself and in corridors to guest bedrooms.

 

Guests arrive via a main entrance, whose cleaning of touchpoints is subject to Government-agreed Covid-safe protocols, before going through a Covid-safe, socially distanced check-in procedure then proceeding to their individual self-contained accommodation in guest bedrooms with dedicated bathrooms.   The coridoors and common ways are also of course subject to Government-agreed cleaning regimes under the Covid-safe protocols.

 

Finally of course, the Government is itself currently placing guests in “quarantine hotels” which have “shared entry/exit”, so clearly this is not seen as unsafe per se in the context of a Covid-safe hospitality property.

So we believe that hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses following Covid-safe protocols should be classed as “self-contained” accommodation for these purposes, and so should be allowed to open from 12 April rather than 17 May.

 

 

 

UPDATE 12 March: The Welsh Government  has now announced that, subject to a review on 25th, B&Bs, guesthouses & hotels will open on 27th March in Wales. The Welsh Government count B&Bs as “self-contained” accommodation for the purposes of opening on 27 March - as we have been arguing (see above) to the UK Government should be the case in England.  We continue to put this case via officials at the tourism department (DCMS).

 

 

 UPDATE 23 March: Government confirm 17 May date for B&Bs & hotels

The UK Government have finally confirmed that, despite the lobbying by the B&B Association and UK Hospitality, hotels and B&Bs will still be classed as NOT "self-contained" for the purposes of the reopening roadmap, so cannot reopen for leisure guests before 17 May.  The full explanatory text we received from an official at the Tourism Department (DCMS) is below:

Accommodation and Step 2 of the Roadmap

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 have been published in relation to the roadmap steps. 

 

I would like to clarify some queries that have been raised regarding the reopening of accommodation and can confirm the agreed Government position is that:

 

• From Step 2, no earlier than 12 April, separate and self-contained accommodation will be open for leisure stays. This is defined as accommodation in which facilities (kitchens, sleeping areas, bathrooms and indoor communal areas such as: lifts, staircases, lounges, sitting areas and internal corridors for entry and exit) are restricted to exclusive use of a single household/support bubble. A reception area is not to be treated as a shared facility or indoor communal area if they are required in order to be open for check-in purposes.
  
  

What can open:

• At Step 2, accommodation in which all facilities listed above are for the exclusive use of a single household/support bubble may open. This will mean that holiday parks, ‘standalone’ holiday lets such as houses and cottages, chalets, yurts, holiday boats, and motels which do not rely on sharing those facilities listed may open.

 

• Campsites and caravan parks will be permitted from Step 2 provided that the only shared facilities used by guests at the campsite or caravan park are washing facilities, toilets, water points and waste disposal points. These facilities should be operated so as to ensure no household mixing takes place. This would involve either assigning shower facilities to one household group/support bubble, (i.e. making them private), or running a reservation and clean process (whereby one household can exclusively book the shared facilities for a fixed time, and the facilities are cleaned between reservations and kept well-ventilated).

• All accommodation may continue to open for the current permitted reasons, such as to provide accommodation for those who are unable to return to their main residence; for the homeless; for those who need accommodation for work, education or training purposes; for those who need to attend medical appointments; or for those self-isolating as required by law including for the Managed Quarantine Service for high risk international arrivals.

What cannot open:

• This phased approach to reopening means that the rest of the sector will follow at Step 3. We recognise that between now and Step 3 this means a continued closure of hotels, hostels, B&Bs, guest houses and any other accommodation that relies on sharing these facilities. This will also require the continued closure of any holiday lets or serviced accommodation within apartment buildings that share any of the facilities listed above.

 

• From Step 3, no earlier than 17 May, all remaining accommodation will be permitted to reopen for leisure stays.

 

Step 2 will also see the reopening of non-essential retail; personal care facilities and close contact services such as beauty salons, spas and massage centres (except for steam rooms and saunas); and indoor sports and leisure facilities such as gyms and swimming pools. Where these facilities are located within a hotel or other guest accommodation, they are permitted to reopen and can be accessed - if necessary - from inside the building i.e. without the requirement for direct street access, though businesses should continue to comply with COVID-Secure guidance to mitigate transmission risk. Outdoor hospitality which is permitted to open at Step 2,  located on a hotel premises or other guest accommodation, may also reopen, and customers will be permitted to use indoor toilets as required.

Rationale:

The government recognises the significant contribution that hotels and similar accommodation have made by providing their services for managed quarantine, sheltering rough sleepers and other vulnerable groups, and providing safe accommodation for a variety of legally permitted reasons throughout the last year. 

 

However, the Government has set out its plan to allow cautious and gradual reopening of the economy. This is a phased roadmap and we are not opening the sector in one go, meaning leisure stays in different types of accommodation will be permitted gradually alongside the phased reopening of other businesses and services. This is because we need to act cautiously to keep prevalence low and avoid the need for re-escalation. As TIC members have indicated, reopening and then having to close again would be far more damaging than a phased reopening. 

 

Although cases are in decline, the SPI-M scientific modelling shows that opening too early or too quickly risks a further surge which could overwhelm the NHS, leading to another lockdown. As a result, accommodation that relies on the shared use of indoor facilities will not open for leisure stays for a further 5 weeks until Step 3 while we assess the impact of reopening at Step 2. 

 

Further, in aggregate Step 2 prioritises outdoor activity over indoor activity, and activity within households rather than between them. The likelihood of transmission is substantially lower in the open air rather than indoors. Travel and tourism inherently involves a lot of travel across the country, as well as household mixing. Allowing both the opening of all guest accommodation and household mixing before more of the population is vaccinated would substantially increase the risk of the NHS being put under unsustainable pressure. 

 

The approach we are taking is slow and cautious, to ensure it is irreversible. A number of measures have been put in place to assist the sector prior to reopening and to return to profit upon reopening. These include the extension of the furlough scheme, VAT cut and business rates relief, the new restart grants, a new loan scheme and the Help to Grow scheme.

 

Our guidance for Hotels & Other Guest Accommodation will be updated in advance of each step of the roadmap with further detail.

 

 

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The Bed & Breakfast Association is the UK trade association for owners of B&Bs, guesthouses and small independent hotels.  We are here to inform, support and represent our members. Membership is just over £1 a week and you can join us online here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish Government "Support for B&Bs Paying Council Tax" fund - operational from Mon 15 Feb 21

Financial support for B&Bs in Scotland paying Council Tax

 

The Scottish Government have just informed us (the Scottish B&B Association) that its new "Support for B&Bs Paying Council Tax" fund will be operational from next Monday (15 February 2021), and that details of the fund have gone live today on the Scottish Government's "Find Business Support" website here.

The Scottish Government emphasise that there is no need for businesses to apply - "local authorities (LAs) will identify those that are eligible".  

They tell us: "LAs will contact the 450 B&Bs that were paid out to under the predecessor fund".  

"The Scottish Government is aware that there may be some eligible B&Bs that, for one reason or another (EG technical issues) did not get funded in 2020, and each LA will also have a ‘wash up’ application process, that will ensure these are picked up.  This will be done individually by LAs."

If you are a Scottish B&B Association member (or member of the UK B&B Association based in Scotland) and believe you should be eligible (see here for criteria) but did not receive funding last Summer - IE you are not one of the 450 referred to above - please email the B&B Association with details, and we will do our best to put your case to the authorities for funding.

We will keep our subscribing members fully informed of any further developments.

 

Not yet a member of the B&B Association? membership costs only around £1 a week and there are many member benefits - and your options for joining us now are here.

 

Support for B&Bs in Scotland: message from the Scottish Government to B&Bs and guesthouses

The Scottish B&B Association has, throughout the Covid crisis, been pressing the Scottish Government on behalf of our members for financial support.  

Successive recent Government announcements have caused confusion, and we have asked for clarification so we can give you the full picture. 

Government officials have just given us the statement below:

We hope the following information will help provide clarity around some of the funding issues that your sector is currently raising, and the rationale behind the way support has been targeted.  

 

Support for B&Bs and self-catering businesses

 

We are doing everything we can with the limited powers available to us to support the tourism sector and accommodation providers in particular.  Since the start of the crisis we have provided almost £3 billion to assist businesses of all kinds across Scotland, including the self-catering and B&B sector. 

 

We have also provided 100% non-domestic rates relief for holiday accommodation providers, amongst other businesses.  Previous targeted support for the B&B sector included a fund of up to £3 million to support those B&Bs with no business bank account (now closed).

 

All self-catering properties, B&Bs and guest houses that are on the NDR roll, are eligible to apply for Level 4 support from the Strategic Framework Business Fund, which provides grants for businesses required to close by law as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. In most cases this will be payments of £2,000 every four weeks (£2,000 if your business premises has a rateable value of up to and including £51,000.  £3,000 if your business premises has a rateable value of £51,001 or above). 

 

Support equivalent to the Strategic Framework Business Fund will also now be available to B&Bs which do not pay Non Domestic Rates but pay council tax. This support will be paid by local authorities.  Support packages have been designed in response to business needs and have been agreed with sector representatives.  Details of how businesses can access the support will be published shortly.

 

Larger self-catering premises (accommodating 7+) and exclusive use properties will also benefit from an additional £7 million fund to mitigate against the impact of the single household restrictions. 
 
This is in addition to the previous targeted VS led Coronavirus support scheme for self-catering businesses fundwhich allocated £1.5 m (now closed) to self-catering businesses in Scotland with a rateable value of up to £50,999 (and paid NDR) who had not received any funding from any other Scottish Government Scheme following COVID-19.

Hospitality, retail and leisure top-up fund

 

The hospitality top-up fund is targeted at restaurants, bars, pubs, licensed social and sports clubs, cafes and hotels. Scottish Government resources are limited and this means we must take targeted action. We continue to call on the UK Government to transfer the fiscal levers required to enable us to respond fully to the needs of Scottish businesses.

 

B&Bs and self-catering properties are not, and never have been, in scope for the retail and hospitality top up grants.  The hospitality top up grants are targeted at restaurants, pubs, bars, licensed sports and social clubs and hotels as they tend to have more employees and higher fixed costs which isn’t entirely covered by furlough.

 

Business support cannot, and is not intended to, make up for all losses. Funding is allocated to provide essential lifeline assistance and support businesses through to recovery.  We expect the self-catering and B&B sector to recover strongly in due course, and recovery in this sector may more rapid that that seen in other in other sectors.       

 

Island Businesses support 

 

From January, Islands businesses in Level 3 are also eligible for support to the equivalent of Level 4 Strategic Framework Business Fund.  This is in recognition that with the near nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions Islands businesses will require support.  The grants available are based on the same terms and conditions as businesses on the mainland in level 4 and are not more generous.  The Strategic Framework Business Fund offers businesses that are required to close at level 4 a temporary closure grant for every four weeks of restrictions depending on the size of business: £2,000 if your business premises has a rateable value of up to and including £51,000.  £3,000 if your business premises has a rateable value of £51,001 or above. 

 

Scottish Government approach 

 

Each of the UK nations are choosing to take a different approach as suits their unique circumstances.  In addition to the regular Strategic Business Fund support we have developed tailored support to meet the need of tourism businesses, in development with sector leads.  We have also established a £30 million local authority discretionary fund, which is empowering local authorities to direct funding to specific groups or sectors within their areas, including supply chain businesses.

 

We recognise that this is an extremely difficult time for businesses of all kinds across Scotland. None of the decisions taken have been done so lightly. We will continue to review the support that is in place and will keep making the case to the UK Government for more support for the whole economy right across the UK.

 

More information available at Support for larger self-catering properties and B&Bs - News | VisitScotland.org

 

 

Scottish Govt "Short-Term Lets" Licensing proposals: our message to the Committee

 The Scottish Government plans to regulate "short term lets" by means of a licensing scheme that will also affect all small B&Bs (those in Use Class 9, ie "homes").

Our latest submission to their consultation can be read here.

The Local Government and Communities Committee are discussing this tomorrow (Wed 3 Feb).

This is the message the Scottish B&B Association have sent today to the Convener of the Committee, James Dornan MSP:

Mr Dornan,

May I request that you put this to tomorrow’s Committee meeting, as we are concerned that Kevin Stewart’s letter to the Convener of the Committee may be misleading?

I refer to this letter from Kevin Stewart MSP to James Dornan MSP (1 Feb 21):

https://www.parliament.scot/S5_Local_Gov/General%20Documents/20210201shorttermlets.pdf

And in reply I would like to refer you and the Committee to my email to Kate Forbes MSP [this can be read here]. 

As you can see, we felt Ms Forbes’s reply to a constituent was misleading, and pointed out how.   We asked her and her colleagues not to make similar statements implying that we agreed with the STL licensing proposals.

Unfortunately in his letter above, Kevin Stewart has again repeated the same misleading statements.  This is to correct those, so the Committee can make fully informed decisions.

May I also add the folowing points about Mr Stewart’s letter (using his numbering):

1) Mr Stewart says of the licensing scheme requirements:  “we do not consider them to be onerous”.   We strongly disagree, as our latest submission makes clear.  The requirements regarding EPC certificates, maximum occupancy, sound insulation (changing floor coverings etc), arrival time curfews, reporting etc ARE potentially onerous for micro-businesses - and are unnecessary to impose on rural B&Bs which are not causing the problems the Committee is seeking to address.  These will impose costs over and above the license fee.

4) “B&Bs have always been excluded”:  regardless of what was intended, the wording put out was less than clear.  Mr Stewart's letter points out that "Our 2019 consultation paper proposed excluding “licensed hotels and B&Bs and self-catering properties on their premises”.”

Many read this as excluding (a) licensed hotels and (b) B&Bs.   I have to say that many MSPs and even ministers have expressed surprise that B&Bs were ever intended to be included.  As soon as we heard that one of the options was to include B&Bs in UCO 9, we flagged this up as a problem issue in our formal consultation rsponse at the earliest stage possible.

5. "Average indicative fees are estimated to be in the range £223 and £377 for a three year licence”:

These figures are misleading, as there is NOTHING guaranteeing they will be in this range - and in fact there will be a equirement for Local Authorities to cover their costs, so depending on what Local Authorities choose to spend, and how many license fee payers are in their area, the fees may be much higher.

Some comparable fees are £800 and more, and the STL Licence fee may possibly reach £1,000 in some areas.  In any case, fees of several hundred pounds are disproportionate for microbusinesses with one or two guest bedrooms - and unnecessary, considering that (as Mr Stewart concedes) the established B&Bs are already complying with key existing safety legislation.

As you will know by now, the ASSC’s very recent survey (also sent to our members)  of B&Bs across Scotland found the following:

88% are rural / semi-rural / island

78% have been operating 3+ years, with 20% over 15 years, one 37+ years

76% are UCO9 (residential) compared to 24% UCO7 (Guest House), which means that 76% will be required to obtain a licence

39% believe that any additional licence fee would render their business unviable, 55% believe it would have a negative impact

Mr Stewart’s letter also repeats Ms Forbes’s potentially misleading statement to her constituents, saying:

"The Scottish B&B Association responded to both our 2019 and 2020 consultations, highlighting that their members adhered to safety standards and that they were in favour of levelling the playing field between B&Bs and properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb.”

As I said to Kate Forbes when she had used those words to her constituents:

We did give written responses to Scottish Government consultations in July 2019 and October 2020 (the latter a very limited consultation, as a licensing scheme had by then been decided upon).  However you omitted the significant fact that both times, we made very clear that a licensing scheme would be the WRONG way to go, and explained why.   And in October, we specifically warned of the danger of bringing in B&Bs into the definition of “short-term lets”. Again we were ignored.

Yes we have long been in favour of levelling the playing-field between B&Bs and properties on “platforms” such as Airbnb - and we have made very clear to the Scottish Government (since 2017 when we gave evidence to your Expet Panel on the “Collaborative Economy”) that this “playing field” distortion was a matter of ENFORCEMENT.  To put it simply, traditional B&Bs are subject to the enforcement by regulators of health & safety rules, and properties on platforms like Airbnb are in practice not.  The way to bring the same level of enforcement to both is to bring in a no or low cost accommodation registration scheme, not an onerous, costly, inflexible and unwieldy licensing scheme.

As regards the consultation excercise, as I told Ms Forbes:

In any case, seeking written submissions from voluntary trade associations is not sufficient as a consultation excercise before changes of this scope and scale - if your Government had intended every owner of a house (ie UCO 9) in Scotland who offered even one room as B&B to be subject to a licensing regime, it would have been incumbent on you to carry out a near population-level consultation and communications excercise.

Whether the consultation excercise was legally watertight is, I understand, a question worth asking. Unlike Acts of the UK parliament which (generally since leaving the EU) cannot be challenged in the courts, Scottish Acts can be challenged in the Scottish Courts if they are outwith the scope of the legal powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament. But there are much wider grounds for challenging subordinate legislation (ie legislation like this Order made not by Parliament but by Ministers in exercise of powers given to them under an Act of either Parliament). These include procedural impropriety etc. which may be wide enough to include failure to properly consult key sectors affected, particularly in the context of published “best practice”. As I told Ms Forbes and the Committee should be aware, this is something we are looking into at present.

We ask the Committee to set aside the current proposals pending a review, full economic impact assessment and appropriate scale of consultation.

Regards,

David Weston

Chairman

Scottish Bed & Breakfast Association