Coronavirus business update: Latest news across the North West
A new COVID-19 track and trace app has been launched by developers in Altrincham.
More-ish.com has created software which helps independent businesses record visitors to their venue, without the need for any paperwork.
Stores, restaurants and coffee shops are given a QR code which is displayed in store, which allows visitors to scan themselves in.
If a business receives a test and trace request from the NHS, More-ish will then pass on customers’ names and email addresses, to help with the fight against COVID.
Co-founder, Cassie Groos, said: “Our developers have been working flat out to produce this feature.
“Businesses are telling us they’re finding manual paperwork hard to cope with, and their records have to be GDPR compliant, too. We’re taking that worry, and work, away from them.”
One of the first companies to sign up to track and trace is a small coffee shop business with venues in Rotherham, Sheffield and Leeds.
Mark Casson, from Fitzwilliam & Hughes, said: “Using track and trace has helped our business save time, with just one simple scan it’s sorted. It’s a no brainer.”
More-ish aims to keep independent businesses connected to their customers, using their paperless loyalty card programme. Their new track and trace feature is free for members to use.
The app has been designed as a stop-gap to help local businesses, until the Government launches its own app later this year.
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Oliver Greenall
Malpas-based racehorse training centre, Oliver Greenall Racing, has secured a £75,000 funding package from NatWest to safeguard the future of the business and protect jobs, after racing was put on hold due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The centre, which is currently training 40 horses for both flat and national hunt racing, recorded 20 winners in the 2018-2019 season and was on track to improve on this before the 2019-2020 season was cut short due to coronavirus.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) funding from NatWest has enabled the centre to continue caring for the horses in its stables at Stockton Hall Farm and maintain training schedules.
Horseracing was one of the first sports to resume behind closed doors in June, and the horses are now being prepared for the upcoming season.
Previously a jockey for 10 years, Oliver Greenall launched the business in 2015, utilising his many years of experience training horses at Mick Easterby’s yard and working with Sir Mark Prescott.
The farm, which has been used to train racehorses for 10 years, has a range of facilities to support the wellbeing and training of its horses, including a one-mile gallop track suitable for all weathers and schooling grounds on site.
The horses are trained and cared for by a team of 12 employees, whose jobs have been saved by the CBILs package.
Oliver Greenall said: “We have built a strong reputation for training horses to successfully compete in major races across the UK. Before the coronavirus pandemic, we were on track for our best season yet with a number of wins already under our belt.
“The support from NatWest has enabled us to continue training the racehorses in our care and futureproof the business while horse racing was paused. We are now looking forward to our next season with a team of much stronger horses and hope to achieve our most successful results to date.”
Phillip Mills, relationship director at NatWest, said: “Oliver and the team are committed to delivering the best possible care for the horses entrusted to them and they have maintained a great performance track record.
“We were pleased to support the business with a CBILS funding package and we will continue to work with Oliver in the future as the business expands.”
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UAP team, before social distancing measures
A Manchester supplier of door hardware and accessories has secured a seven-figure funding package from HSBC UK to pivot its business model amid the coronavirus crisis, helping it provide essential PPE (personal protection equipment) for its customers.
UAP Limited, established more than 25 years ago, is a door hardware supplier in the UK and imports handles, locks, hinges, knockers and letterboxes from around the globe.
While the business continues to supply door parts nationally to assemblers and factories, UAP has used the HSBC UK funding to invest in a much-needed PPE product range and provide supply chain solutions for its customers in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The product range includes protective equipment for face, body and hands.
With support from HSBC UK, UAP, which currently employs 64 members of staff, has provided 1,600 items of PPE through its UAP Health Care Range over the past five months.
UAP chief financial officer, Bonnie Hodson, said: “Through numerous conversations with our customers we knew they, and many others, were struggling to source high-quality PPE to restart their operations safely and we wanted to do something to help.
“HSBC UK worked quickly to ensure we had the right funding in place so we could start providing these customers with essential PPE. Our clients are now able to safely carry out their job and we’re incredibly proud to be a part of this solution.”
Josh Garrigan, corporate relationship director, Greater Manchester, HSBC UK said: “UAP is an established leader in the door hardware industry and we’re delighted to have played a part in helping the sector recover as we come out of COVID-19.
“The funding has allowed the business to invest in essential PPE products that will ensure its customers are kept safe in their workplace now, and in the future.”
UAP’s supply chain employees have been visiting manufacturers of PPE across Asia, inspecting the factories and checking documentation to make sure everything it imports is fit for purpose and keeps its customers safe.
