HMRC Some updated information

COVID-19

AN UPDATE FOR OUR CLIENTS At Sims Automatics we’re doing everything we can to help our customers through this uncertain time. For as long as premises remain open, please be assured that our sales and service team are there to support you as best we can. We are following all the guidance issued by the Scottish Government and our management team are monitoring the situation closely and will keep you updated via our website and social media channels. If you need to get in touch please contact us on: 0141 946 0444. For Service call 0141 946 6054 We appreciate all your support and patience at this challenging time for us all.

46 Dalsholm Road, Glasgow, G20 0TB. Tel: 0141 946 0444 www.simsautomatics.co.uk

IN OUR OWN WORDS... THE IMPACT OF COVID-19

In our own words -some of Scotland’s movers and shakers give us their lowdown on how the current crisis impacted on their business and what they are doing to prepare for the future...

DRAM BY INNES BOLT, MD, MONTPELIERS EDINBURGH

To date, although extremely stressful for everyone, it has been relatively straight forward. The government support has allowed us to continue to employ 100% of our team and enabled us to arrange fair payment terms with all our suppliers. We continue to communicate with our people weekly and provide individuals with additional support and direction when required. This has been our main focus for the last x3 weeks. We have also been compiling cash forecasts, almost daily, as the situation develops. We will continue concentrating heavily on this as part of our reopening plan. Now it feels a bit like the calm before the storm... the recovery will be our biggest challenge. Will consumers have the confidence to venture out? Will social distancing still be in place? How do we operate our businesses successfully with potentially a drop of more than 50% in sales? We are looking into all possibilities at the moment. Going forward we will be working on small development plans for all of our businesses. We want each of them to come out of this feeling rejuvenated and polished, with new food and drinks menus, customer offers and some aesthetic changes. We are also constructing training plans to make sure everyone is up to speed with all areas of service, product knowledge and any developing trends. On top of this we are currently looking into different ways we can support our community, there are some amazing people out there doing some incredible things and we would like to support however we can. Finally, It has been great to be surrounded by so many supportive people. The Hospitality Industry has really pulled together to help navigate this very difficult time. 12 DRAM MAY 2020

BY KENNY BLAIR, MD, BUZZWORKS

Reflecting on the unique circumstances that we have all found ourselves over the last few weeks, I find that I am in a good place. Despite the fact that our business has no income and the future of the hospitality industry across both the UK and the globe is uncertain, I know with absolute certainty that Buzzworks has done everything it can for everyone involved in our family business. As a leader through a crisis, you must look to yourself to provide a level of CALM – compassion, clear action on priorities, a level and clear head and be mindful of the consequences for everyone. It is not always easy, however it is completely necessary. Throughout my career, building our business alongside my brother and sister, I have drawn inspiration from Danny Meyer – the New York restaurateur and CEO of Union Square Hospitality. His vision for ‘Enlightened Hospitality’ - where it is a virtuous cycle of putting your people before your guests, your suppliers, your community and your investors or owners - has really resonated with me. I was lucky enough to be invited on a learning tour, as part of a HIT scholarship, to visit his business last year and immerse myself in his philosophy. It was both educational and inspirational, and throughout this crisis I have tried to implement what I learned by replicating the loyalty shown to us by our team.

We are fortunate that the business is in a good position to do the right thing for our stakeholders and throughout the crisis we have been able to retain over 500 of our team across the business. We’ve made sure that they have continued to be paid weekly, whilst communicating with everyone daily and supporting all of our team in a variety of different ways. Outwith our team, we will continue to make payments to our suppliers, many of whom have been truly outstanding in their support and understanding throughout this crisis. I feel blessed that we have also been able to support the community during these difficult times, from our chefs helping local charity Centrestage cook meals for vulnerable people in east Ayrshire, to our staff supporting the NHS both voluntary and on the front line. We have also made a modest donation to our chosen charity, Hospitality Action, which helps those within the hospitality industry, including our own team, to help with mental, physical and financial wellbeing. Whilst I’m sure both Buzzworks and the hospitality industry faces turbulent times over the coming months, I am confident that we will be able to provide a great business for our customers to return to, within a safe and welcoming environment. Unfortunately hospitality as an industry has a disproportionate reliance on people, allied to high property costs, which make it immensely vulnerable to a complete closure like we are experiencing now. Combined, it looks bleak for many and it is truly sad that we will potentially lose some well-known names from both the culinary and bar scene. Most businesses that have been around for as long as we have each will each have their own war stories to tell and we are no different. We all know the principle that when times are tough, you really get better and stronger at what you do - there is often no other option. It is from these experiences that we know as a business, we have the ability and capacity to ride this storm, although no one is underestimating how tough it will be. Working as a family, through both good and bad times, we know that we will get our backs to the wall and focus our energy on pulling through just like we have done many times before in our career. In this unprecedented time, we’ve formulated a list of actions that’s helped us through the crisis so far and will hopefully help us achieve our goal in this unprecedented situation, that a year from now we will look back on how our business has behaved and be proud that we did the right thing for everyone involved. 1. Communicate clearly and regularly with your team - all of them. Even if it is just through a WhatsApp group 2. Speak to your suppliers, don’t just ignore them - they will almost universally understand. Those that don’t make any concessions will soon be ex-suppliers when all this is over 3. Forensically examine every penny that leaves your bank account. Question every expense, and ask for help from every supplier 4. Create a plan for coming out of the crisis - make a best guess at what it will look like for your business. It might not be 100 per cent correct, but it will give both you and your team something to focus on 5. Plan your cashflow out for the next 12 months based on your plan. If you can’t do this in-house then contact your accountant 6. Keep a dialogue going with your bank - let them know everything you are doing to minimise the effect of the crisis on your business 7. Create a crisis team, even if it’s just two or three people - split up the jobs and talk daily 8. Share the problem with someone else within the licenced trade - we are all in this together. On this occasion, the virus is the competition 9. Look after yourself - take exercise and share the load with someone - your business needs you in good shape to lead it through this crisis 10. Don’t believe everything you read in the news.

BY MICHAEL BERGSON - SOHO GLASGOW BAR 1 9th March (exactly 3 weeks ago) we were still trading. Our venues remained open except The Variety Bar. We took the decision to close VBar that week. As a small pub, it was impossible to implement social spacing . How do you tell your regulars to sit at opposite ends of a bar? Can you even stop them from sitting at the bar? ‘Excuse me sir, would you mind not sitting at the bar and can you please drink your pint of Tennent’s over in that corner?’ I couldn’t see that working and it wasn’t fair on the staff to continue. SoHo, Little SoHo and both of our Buck’s Bars remained open and all were still reasonably busy. We were actually having to turn a lot of business away at times. Just like everyone else in the trade, we had introduced many additional safety measures. We were also making plans to start Operation Takeaway and Delivery in the event of a governmental shut down. We’d taken the decision to stay open as long as possible simply because we wanted to give as many of our team as possible the chance to keep earning a wage. The staff were healthy, earning good money and all was going well. I told my managers ‘we won’t shut until they force us’. Then I woke up on Thursday 19th with what seemed to be symptoms of Covid 19. Thankfully I was lucky to only experience milder symptoms (just like flu with added lost sense of taste and smell). My wife Michelle and my area manager Ashley also fell ill later that day. I was worried. Who else had I potentially passed this on to? Can you imagine if I’d stayed open knowing that a few team members could potentially have Coronavirus? I started having nightmares of being shamed live on GMTV by Piers Morgan for being a greedy superspreading moron. I then made the (somewhat prophetic) call that Friday 20th would be our last day of trading before shutting down for the forseeable. To be honest, I still had doubts regarding my decision. Had we done the right thing? What if I only had a cold? Would there even be an enforced shutdown at all? Was it possible that the UK would follow the Sweden example? I mean the Schools were still open for goodness sake! I switch on the news and Tim Martin the Wetherspoons owner (and a big Tory donor) is beating the drum for all hospitality venues to stay open. Could Boris’s big bouffant Brexit buddy Tim possibly be exerting his influence on the PM to keep venues open? We were fully booked for Saturday and Sunday. Were we being rash in cancelling all those bookings? But no, this virus had now infiltrated our staff. We had no choice. It was necessary to close. We told the staff we would pay a percentage of all management salaries until our money ran out. We have 70 staff in total. All we could afford to do for the rest was to ask them to take leave of pay. This would mean we would pay them one final week’s wages and then a final guaranteed pay of £145 per person. After that they would be able to work elsewhere or apply for Universal Credit. The staff understood but the thought of having to do this made me feel sick. Friday night, Boris made THAT announcement. ‘Close as soon as possible’. Then huge news as Rishi Sunak announced the 80% job retention scheme. The manager Whatsapp chat group went wild! The team were so relieved. It was music to our ears. Sunak’s announcement was a massive weight off of our shoulders. We had enough cash to pay staff their 80% for a while but were slightly worried about how long it would take for grant money to filter through to businesses. We fortunately received our £25,000 grants this week so all staff have been furloughed and are receiving their 80%. By the time the grant runs out then we hope to have received the furlough payback from the government (we hear it will come through at the end of April). So it looks like we are covered at least until June. Operation Takeaway and Delivery has now been shelved. For example how do you convince a staff member who is getting paid, say, £400 for sitting at home safely watching Netflix to come and do a week’s work for an extra £100 per week. Even less after travel expenses. Then there’s the risk of them contracting the virus. Even if their symptoms are mild then they could end up on SSP and actually earn a lot less than the furlough pay. It’s at times like this you see the best of our industry. All of our suppliers have been amazing. We will 100% make sure that all suppliers credit is fully up to date by the time all of this ends. Landlords in the main have also been great with 4 out of 5 offering 3 month rent holidays. So many customers have sent messages of encouragement. Who knows how long this will continue but one things for certain. When we come back, it will be with a bang!