Coronavirus: Latest news from West Midlands businesses
M&S is sharing its plans to support Birmingham’s NHS Nightingale Hospital with clothing care packs for patients.
The new facility, based at the NEC, will treat patients from 23 Midlands hospitals, helping to save lives and protect the NHS.
M&S has been working with NHS teams to understand how, as a clothing and food retailer, it can best help meet some of the needs of the frontline NHS teams and the patients in their care.
As a result, M&S is currently sourcing, packing and delivering much needed individual clothing care packs, and pairs of pyjamas, as a donation to NHS Nightingale Birmingham.
The individual care packs each contain a t-shirt, jumper, joggers, underwear and socks, and will be available in a range of sizes. The aim is that the clothing will help provide patients with some comfort and normality when they are discharged.
Andy Barber, head of region for West Midlands, said: “We’re doing our bit to help the NHS across the Midlands in the hope we can make it just a little easier for our NHS heroes as well as the patients in their care. At a time when everyone is facing their own personal challenges and our own frontline colleagues in the West Midlands are working round the clock – it’s heartening to see the whole nation getting behind the fantastic NHS teams we’re relying on right now.
“We’re also working to make it easier for our busy NHS workers to get the food they need from our stores by introducing special shopping hours for NHS, emergency service and health and social care workers every Tuesday and Friday during the first hour of trade, including in our Sheldon Foodhall which is just down the road from the new Nightingale Hospital.
“We really are all in this together and I’m delighted we have been able to support Birmingham’s NHS Nightingale Hospital during this time.”
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Regional business organisations are urging companies who have not yet contacted their local council about Covid-19 grant funding to get in touch immediately after £116m has already been administered in Coventry and Warwickshire.
The Government has announced a number of business support packages to provide grants between £10,000 and £25,000 to qualifying companies which are being administered by Coventry City Council and the district and borough councils in Warwickshire.
Staff at Coventry City Council, Warwick District Council, North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Rugby Borough Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council have been busy processing the information provided by businesses who have supplied the required basic information.
But the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Growth Hub, the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber and Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses want to ensure that no eligible companies fall through the net.
Craig Humphrey, managing director of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub, said: “Businesses need to contact their local, district or borough council depending on where they are based to provide up-to-date contact information and their bank details in order for the organisations to pay out.
“Business occupancy changes over time and it is inevitable that local authority records take time to catch-up.
“There are two grants available – a grant of £10,000 from the Small Business Grant Fund for owners whose premises have a rateable value of up to £15,000 that are already in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief.
“And there are also two grant amounts under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme for businesses which qualify for the Expanded Retail Discount Scheme with a rateable value below £51,000 and have already had their business rates bills reduced to zero for the financial year 2020/2021.”
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber, urged firms make sure they establish lines of communications with the relevant authorities.
She said: “The councils want to make sure they are in touch with every eligible business and I would therefore urge any business owner who falls within the criteria to receive these grants to contact their local council as soon as possible.
“The process is simple and councils in Coventry and Warwickshire have administered £116 million since receiving the money from the Government but unless they know these hard-to-reach businesses exist, they can’t help.
“It is vital for the recovery of our economy that we give a helping hand to as many businesses as possible particularly SMEs who are the bedrock of the business world because we want them to help in their survival in these difficult times.”
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Replacing wedding veils with scrubs, Romantic Dreams – a bridal boutique in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter – has become the local centre for Brum Scrubs with thousands of scrubs being created for local medical professionals.
The Scrub Hub network began a few weeks ago in Hackney Wick in London but has spread to include volunteer groups up and down the country.
The Birmingham chapter was set up by Marcelle Porteous April 11 and within a few hours they had their first order of 150 scrubs. In just under two weeks, the group has grown to a team of over 180 volunteers including sewers and delivery drivers.
Romantic Dreams bridal shop, in the Jewellery Quarter, has become one of the two Birmingham hubs for sewing activities as well as the drop off and pick-up locations for materials and finished products. As well as ensuring all volunteers are adhering to government guidance on social distancing, the team has also faced logistical challenges when trying to keep up with the huge demand for scrubs.
However, following a successful fundraising campaign that raised £5,000, the team has been able to purchase more fabric and send out sewing kits to local volunteers to keep up with the increasing demand.
Sammy Dingley from Romantic Dreams said: “I am a workaholic by nature and two weeks into lockdown with the boutique being closed I was going a bit stir crazy. I’ve always had an interest in sewing and when I heard areas were looking for sewers to make scrubs I immediately wanted to be involved and it turned out the Birmingham team was just being assembled so I could get involved in the team leading side of things too!
“With the boutique being closed I offered up the space to use as a temporary warehouse and have used our social media platforms to inspire support from our already established following. If we can relieve the worry of a scrubs shortage and allow our NHS heroes to concentrate on patient care, then we’ve succeeded.
“The community spirit shown during this project from our army of local sewers has been incredible and is what Romantic Dreams has always been about — going above and beyond to make a real difference. ”
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The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has said it will make up to 5,000 free tickets available to NHS workers once concerts resume following the coronavirus pandemic.
The CBSO, including the CBSO Chorus, Youth Orchestra and Youth Chorus, serve communities across the West Midlands, and have launched the initiative as a way of thanking the NHS heroes working tirelessly at this time.
Tickets will be made available for selected future concerts at venues including Birmingham Symphony Hall and Town Hall and the CBSO Centre, with up to 5,000 tickets set aside. NHS workers can register their interest on the CBSO website. Full details of available concerts will be announced at a later date.
CBSO chief executive, Stephen Maddock, said: “We know that in these uncertain times music is bringing many people comfort, joy and solace. While we’re doing everything we can to keep music alive through online and digital work, we can’t wait to get back to performing for our live audiences once again here in Birmingham. And when we do, we would like to say a huge thank you to NHS workers by offering them tickets to the next concerts in our centenary season and beyond. We hope that they will be able to join us to celebrate their incredible work.”
