Looking forward to safe holidays when lockdown is lifted
Cheryl Howes of Kate Boats continues the series from Drifters – a consortium of independent self-drive hire boat companies set up to promote enjoyment of canal holidays.
SPRING has arrived here at Stockton, with blossom on the trees, wildflowers on the towpath and ducklings darting about on the water. Normally our boat yards would also be buzzing with life, May being one of our busiest months of the year.
But as the coronavirus lockdown continues, all our boats are grounded and sadly, like all other canal boat hire companies, here at Kate Boats we’ve had to furlough most of our staff. Needless to say, it’s been an extremely difficult and nerve-testing time for everyone, but I’d like to focus on some of the positives.
Firstly, the vast majority of our wonderful customers have been happy to postpone, not cancel, so bookings are already looking good for 2021. Here at Kate Boats, we are offering to hold a booking from this point, with no deposit required, finalising at the point that we can see our way forward.
Secondly, the IT project that HMRC has delivered to get furlough money through to us on time has been absolutely amazing. And, as well as deferring our licence fees for three months, the Canal & River Trust is lobbying Government, alongside British Marine, the IWA and the Broads Authority, to provide specific support for boating businesses, which typically cannot benefit from the current business grant support schemes.
Finally, although we don’t yet know when we can begin providing holidays again, we do feel that our holidays can operate safely, particularly for family units, once the rules change to allow travel. And while we wait for further instruction from Government, we are putting together comprehensive plans to allow us to operate, for example putting in social distancing measures at our bases and conducting boat showthroughs via online video.