Coronavirus business update: Latest news across the North West
Pubs and restaurants across Manchester are rushing to sell off food and drink before tomorrow’s national lockdown renders them fit only for the bin.
“Many pubs, restaurants, cafes and food outlets are not allowed to trade during lockdown, and they have lots of food and drink in stock that may well end up in landfill if they aren’t sold before Wednesday night”, said Charlotte Green from Manchester waste company TradeWaste.co.uk
Some of the larger chain pubs have been selling pints of beer for 99p in an effort to clear out stocks and avoid huge waste.
Mitchells & Butlers, one of the largest pub operators, reported that the first lockdown cost it £11m in waste caused by extra beer in pubs ready for St Patrick’s day which, of course, did not happen.
“The amount of potential waste caused by a sudden lockdown is staggering and could be as high as 307,500 pints in Manchester alone – however it is thought that because of the length of notice, and the deals on offer the wastage could be much less, which would be great news,” Green added.
The big problem facing Manchester pubs and restaurants now is that a third of their revenue is generated during the Hallowe’en to New Year rush, a massively important time for cashflow before heading into the dead seasons of January and February.
The potential for huge food and drink waste is set to be even worse than it might have been due to the Governments rules on not allowing pubs to sell takeaway drinks.
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Jack Appleton
A Manchester-based social media agency has launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, covering national and international clients.
Jack Appleton, 30, founded Relentless Agency after taking redundancy from his role as a UK marketing manager in the hotels sector due to the pandemic.
The former Melia Hotels and Hilton marketeer has worked for some of the city’s largest and coolest hotel brands during his 14 years in the sector covering operations, revenue and sales and marketing.
In 2015 he helped to establish a large social media presence for Hotel Football at Old Trafford.
He then moved to Melia Hotels International where he was tasked with embedding the INNSiDE by Melia brand on First Street, Manchester.
This project proved so successful that he went on to support launching new sites across the country including Liverpool and Newcastle, where he laid the foundations for the brand to scale in the UK.
As well as helping brands and hotels build their presence and content offering, the social media and marketing specialist is keen for Relentless to have a diverse scope of clients. As such the agency has been signed by watch and accessories brand Tayroc, recently acquired by West Midlands-based Lid Project, to help with its very large social footprint and huge growth plans.
Jack said: “It has been a really testing time for the whole hospitality industry since lockdown. After taking redundancy I knew I wanted to help support the sector and, although starting up a new agency in this climate came with its challenges it is something which I am very passionate about.”
Jack is aiming big for Relentless with a vision to take the agency into overseas markets including the Middle East and Australia. He also aims to create and deliver social strategies for sports clubs through Relentless Sport, as well as serving retail clients and growing the ecommerce partnerships.
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Cllr Mick Warren
Cheshire East Council has extended the community response and recovery fund so that it can continue to support local organisations through the pandemic with a grant up to the value of £20,000.
The original aim of the COVID-19 community response and recovery fund was to support not for profit organisations to adapt to new ways of offering support to communities, both during and following the coronavirus pandemic, as well as maintain and continue to offer services while government restrictions are in place.
Cllr Mick Warren, cabinet member for communities, said: “On behalf of Cheshire East Council, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the voluntary, community and faith sector organisations that have applied so far and for the vital role they have all played.
“The council has so far provided £168,000 of funding to 47 organisations from food banks to mentoring programmes for students in need of emotional support during the pandemic. There is now a wealth of projects and local initiatives available to support our communities through these extremely challenging times.
“The council is still in a position to continue to fund projects that will have a high impact over the Winter months and focus on supporting those organisations which can assist residents who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to the economic impact caused by COVID-19.”
Not-for-profit organisations can apply for funding up to a maximum of £5,000 for local projects and services for both response and recovery-type applications, which meet local need. Examples include, but are not limited, to: Food bank services; meal delivery services; food distribution; lunch clubs; breakfast clubs; holiday hunger projects; fuel poverty; digital inclusion; providing support for people to access any other essential supplies.
Applications will be considered up to £10,000 and the council expects organisations to be able to clearly demonstrate that a wide geographical footprint will be covered for the proposed project as well as connecting with other established related projects.
Applications will also be considered for grants up to £20,000 from organisations as long as this is a collaborative application from two or more organisations working together on the proposed project and that sustainability of the project can be demonstrated.
Local charities and community organisations can apply for grants towards the cost of getting food and other essentials to those who need it the most by delivering essential COVID-19 related services.
Funding will be allocated where organisations can demonstrate a required need and where clear outcomes can be achieved. The council aims to make funding decisions as quickly as possible on a rolling basis and will be providing this funding until early 2021.
