The B&Bs still slipping through Covid safety net
BED and breakfast owners say they are still slipping through the coronavirus safety net, even though the same businesses in England are being supported.
The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) supports businesses in those sectors with grants of up to £25,000.
In England, the grant scheme is open to B&B owners who pay both domestic or business rates, but in Wales only business rate payers qualify.
There had been hopes that Welsh Government’s latest phase of the £1.7bn Economic Resilience Fund would finally help plug that gap but business owners say they have once again been frozen out.
North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has been pressing their case in the Senedd.
Among those affected are retired teacher Dafydd Jones and his wife Dawn who invested their savings into setting up two businesses last year, The Sweet Escape Retreat B&B and beekeepers training venture Anglesey Bees in Llanddaniel.
After a successful first summer season they hoped for a bumper 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sector.
They hoped their plight would see them secure government support funds, but Dafydd says his small bed and breakfast is slipping through every safety net.
They missed out on the rates grants as they live at the property and pay domestic council tax and now do not meet the latest criteria of the Economic Resilience Fund.
Dafydd, 55, said: “We invested our money because my reduced pension is not enough to live on.
“We put everything into these businesses and had to close them due to no fault of our own.
“The Welsh Government says that it is committed to supporting the tourism sector, that is complete hypocrisy when they are not giving businesses like ours the same support as bed and breakfasts are getting in England.
“We are dropping through the net and they don’t even seem to understand why we are falling through the net.”
Louise Grice runs Taldrwst Farm B&B in Dwyran, Anglesey.
She said: “We currently have fallen through the net for all of the current funding from the Welsh Government, as we don’t pay business rates, we have no staff, we are not VAT-registered or a limited company, and only been trading from March 2019 and all profits like most newly started businesses went back into the business, so we do not qualify for any grants whatsoever. We pay council tax on our B&B as a second home, therefore pay a premium for this with council tax of over £3,500 on our business which is only 10 metres from our home. We also have personal council tax to pay on our property.
“We have had no guests since October 2019, when last year’s season ended.
“We have no idea when we will be able to reopen as no information is being given.
“By the time we will be able to open, this season will be over and we will not have built up our winter revenue but still have all the bills to pay, since being told to close our doors our income has dropped to zero.
“By the time our next full season starts in March/April 2021, we will have gone around 18 months with no guests, which will have a detrimental effect on our business. This will have put us in debt in the region of £42,000 with these type of debts in any business this could cause us to fold.”
They want Welsh Government to provide them with the same support as those who pay business rates, although added that firms like hers will also need ongoing support
Mr Isherwood said B&Bs have been left bitterly disappointed that another fund has been launched that they still cannot apply for.
He said: “Small bed and breakfasts are a mainstay of many local economies across North Wales; real small businesses providing essential income for their owners. They are eligible for a business grant in England.
“Bed and breakfast businesses in North Wales have told me that they are still not eligible for a Welsh Government grant, that they don’t know what to do, that they are losing thousands of pounds each month and that there doesn’t seem to be any chance of getting guests though the door.
“The reality is the Welsh Government receives extra funding whenever the UK Government announces new money for matters in England which are devolved to Wales, but the Welsh Government then decides how and where this is spent.
“When the UK Government announced its top-up grant scheme in England, this included small bed and breakfasts, but when the Welsh Government announced its equivalent package in Wales, this excluded small bed and breakfasts.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The UK Government’s announcement of a discretionary fund for certain small businesses relates to England only. In Wales, we developed the £500m Economic Resilience Fund to help support businesses which are not eligible for funding from existing schemes. The second phase will open later this month.
“We are unable to comment on the example given by Mark Isherwood as we do not have the information to do so.
“The UK Government runs the Self Employment Income Support Scheme and the Job Retention Scheme and sets the eligibility criteria for these schemes.”