w/c 1 June 2020
Last week I mentioned that Southend BID was part of a stakeholder group looking into the relaxation measures across the town. This collection of organisations, businesses and other stakeholders regularly meets to develop solutions for a multitude of potential future and current problems. From this a number of working groups have been developed, one of which being retail that the BID is taking the lead on.
Meeting with community representatives from all areas around town we have highlighting places that may cause pinch points and restrict social distancing, we have developed a business pack of information to provide guidance for retail shops and branches, and have created a suite of template signs that can be downloaded by businesses to help with their reopening.
Stakeholders have collaboratively worked swiftly to develop ideas in a short time in the hopes of an easy opening of retail in Southend and the surrounding towns but of course the plans are subject to change. No one has faced this situation before and we will need to be adaptable with our plans, adjusting them on a daily basis as we identify problems we had not conceived or if they simply do not work in reality.
Businesses have followed the Government guidance to keep you safe for when they reopen from the 15th June but please be patient and adhere to the policies that have been put in place. Fitting rooms will be closed so don’t expect to try on clothes, queues will be long so you may be requested to join it later, trading hours may have changed so you will need to check with the business before visiting and walkways may be re-routed so it’ll take longer to get round to the products you want in store.
Rest assured we’re all working hard to get the right procedures in place but you may find that the rules will have changed the next time you visit. The ultimate goal is to keep staff and employees healthy, to make the messaging consistent and to welcome you back into a safe environment.
- Suzanne Gloyne