London based Tanveer Mann, 30, and Anish Pujara, 31, are finally tying the knot on 4 July after a long wait.
“We're really happy that our wedding can go ahead in July with our immediate family and friends. It's such a relief after weeks of uncertainty and not being able to plan anything. We have a reception planned but we're currently waiting for more clarification on how it will look with the current restrictions, whether we can have a dance floor or how many guests to a table etc.,” Tanveer told Asian Voice.
Many like Tanveer and Anish have heaved a sigh of relief after Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an announcement to change the rules for weddings. From 21 June, weddings will be allowed to go ahead with no fixed size limit, despite the pause to lifting lockdown completely. Instead, they will be allowed to be as large as is permissible at the venue under social distancing guidelines that remain in place.
What do the rules say?
From 21 June, there will no longer be a maximum number cap for attendees set out in law. Instead, the number of attendees at weddings, civil partnerships and receptions will be determined by how many people the venue or space can safely accommodate with social distancing measures in place. This will be based on the Covid-19 risk assessment of the venue or outdoor space, and the measures put in place to limit the spread of Covid-19. Guests will have to remain seated at tables of no more than six, and the current ban on dancing indoors will remain in place apart from the newlyweds' first dance - however these specific details were not included in Mr Johnson's speech. The proposed new Freedom Day is 19 July.
In a Covid-secure venue, where the premises are operated or used by a business, a charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic institution or a public body (such as a place of worship or a hospitality venue) the venue manager will need to tell you the maximum number of people who will be able to attend.
For events taking place in other venues, (such as a garden of a private home or on private land), organisers will need to make the space as safe as possible. A marquee or other structure in a private garden must have at least 50% of its walled area open at any time for it to be classed as ‘outdoors’ and for the limit based on safe capacity to apply.
If you plan on having more than 30 people in your chosen venue or outdoor space, you must do this by completing a Covid-19 risk assessment to determine how many attendees will be able to attend and following this guidance to make the event as safe as possible.
But unfortunately, restaurants and pubs ‘face collapse’ as lockdown gets extended in England. Business groups are calling for the government to support the hospitality industry including nightclubs and bars.
Full reopening without measures such as social distancing will not be allowed until 19 July, Boris Johnson said on Monday, with a review in two weeks’ time “unlikely” to result in an earlier relaxation.
Hospitality Unions disappointed in Rishi Sunak
“But the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, shied away from offering any fresh funding package to prop up hard-pressed businesses that cannot trade profitably, or at all, under the restrictions. The UK’s largest trade bodies joined hospitality businesses and trade unions in urging the government to change its mind and come up with new support measures, warning that businesses will be driven to the wall otherwise,” The Guardian reported.
In an unsettling development, furlough will not be extended because Mr Sunak has rejected pleas from businesses and says help schemes will begin to be phased out from 1 July - even though Freedom Day is to be delayed. Staged withdrawal of the scheme will begin 1 July, ending at the end of September. Business groups have urged the Chancellor to delay the wind down.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has said the delay would cost pubs £400m and demanded more support and no further delay beyond 19 July. Pubs have been operating with reduced capacity because of social-distancing guidelines and limits on household mixing.
Reports further suggest that under the proposals the government would set a guideline that landlords forfeit 50% of rent debt. Where the two sides cannot agree on how much rent should be due, hospitality bosses want an official arbitration process that would last up to a further six months.
Hospitality firms, broadly defined, are estimated to have built up £2.5bn of unpaid rent during the pandemic and the hardball class of landlords will want to grab what it can. Fear of being at the back of the queue of creditors will tempt some to make demands for unpaid rent on day one, potentially killing thousands of businesses before they’ve had a chance to try to trade their way out of crisis.
Darjeeling Express founder Asma Khan tweeted moments after the news broke saying, “Please can the government start talking to independent restaurateurs- especially in central London. We are paying rent for lunch & dinner but many of us struggle to fill tables for lunch service with few tourists & office people in central London. #TalkToUs @BorisJohnson,” as she attached a media that read: ‘We need 100% Business Rates relief and VAT at 5% extended to the end of the year. #LondonHospitality.’
In response to a tweet that followed her reaction, wherein a user suggested withdrawing support, Asma replied, “My business rate is £70,000 a year. I need to start paying next month. There is a huge difference in business rates. Sorry to lose your support.”
Speaking to Asian Voice, Amit Lamba of Laguna Caterers said, “At the moment our events team are assessing the updated guidance and seeing how we can adapt the function to meet new government guidelines and ensure that the event is as safe as possible for guests and all staff working at the event.”
Arts sector ready to thrive
Commenting on the latest lockdown rules, Abdul Shayek, Artistic Director Tara Arts told Asian Voice, “Whilst disappointed we appreciate the need for us to respond to the current situation with caution and sensitivity. Tara Theatre will remain open and will still be welcoming in audiences at limited capacity. The theatre industry is of course already struggling due to the impact of the lockdown and the announcement of an extension means that the sector will have to fight even harder to survive. Theatre is, and has always been however, an incredibly powerful tool for change and is central to UK culture. This is why we at Tara Theatre are confident that we will not only survive but thrive.”
The backbone of a wedding
Bhavna Barratt, an Asian wedding photographer and a key lobbyist for the weddings campaign as well as the wedding task force thinks that although the restrictions for numbers have been lifted for weddings, this still has a huge impact on Asian weddings. Speaking to the newsweekly, Bhavna said, “As you know Asian weddings are held over numerous days and have guests between 200-800, this lifting of ‘restriction’ of numbers doesn’t allow for Asian weddings to take place in the same way, it impacts caterers, florists and venues in a negative way where they can’t be making profits, we’re already at a loss not having had any support for over 18 months.”
She further added, “Additionally there is non-dancing, no canapés, no drinks reception all this doesn’t lend itself well to Asian weddings where dancing is an integral tradition.
“It’s been challenging navigating the pandemic with no support for the wedding sector. My business has survived, because of the amazing clients I have and because I’ve been able to create a second business platform online, but without that I would not be able to sustain myself or my wedding business.
“I know of many businesses that have closed down and many on the verge of breakdown because of the lockdown rules and no support from the government. I would like to add as well that a large percentage of the Asian Weddings sector is made up of women, when the rules keep changing, we need to keep changing our childcare provisions too, the changes to lockdowns don’t just affect the business but personal lives too. Many haven’t been able to afford childcare at all.
“We’ve had a lot of enquiries over the last two weeks, couples just want to be able to get on with their lives now, so lots of intimate small wedding enquiries coming our way but we’ve also had enquiries for larger 300-guest weddings.
“I suspect though that after the recent announcement to move lockdown to the 19 July, couples will be feeling less confident to book anything.”
What will it take on her part to nurture her business while making sure that Bhavna and her co-workers are protected from the virus and any other kind of future spread? She said, “Lots of visibility, great customer service and making sure we keep talking about weddings. Making sure we look after our clients as they are so unsure of things and the changing rules. Making sure we are all compliant and follow the guidelines too. This is key.”
Bhavna agreed that this has a huge impact on her business and the wedding sector. “Photography is seen as a luxury service, there will definitely be a knock-on effect to our services, as with other parts of the Asian wedding sector, where the couples decide not to book such a service,” she added.
A new study has found the mental health of home-carers deteriorated more during lockdown than non-carers. The research, led by the University of Glasgow’s MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit with colleagues at the University of Essex – found that unpaid carers who looked after another member of their household (home-carers) had poorer mental health than the general population before lockdown and that this worsened as lockdown continued.
Support minority businesses- extend furlough or risk job disasters
Mayank Shah, Founder and CEO, Minority Supplier Development UK, who runs a leading supplier diversity advocacy network supporting and connecting ethnic minority businesses to global brands, had some imperative observations.
Mayank said that it’s not just the wedding industry, but the whole supply chain that suffers. Whether it is the florists, caterers, venue owners, hundreds of thousands of pounds are at stake. Many of them are self-employed who were not getting the same amount of support from the furlough scheme. “That has been the biggest task, the biggest frustration. I still think people have to be cautious, because as we reopen, as it comes to having weddings in marquee or open spaces, I’m just throwing the caution that how Covid has affected the ethnic minority community and organisers, therefore, we need to make sure that we don’t spread the virus, we use common sense , and those wedding should be done in small numbers following covid safety guidelines,” he told Asian Voice.
Talking about the change in consumer behaviour patterns during the pandemic, Mayank said, “Ethnic minorities are worst affected due to the deprivation and the social economic inequalities that exist in this country within minority communities. More people have lost jobs within the community because they were in the hospitality, service industry or the NHS, which leads to mental stress effect on families. I personally think that the whole period of transition where people will be looking for jobs is going to be challenging.”
According to Mayank, the priority is about making sure we address the people who are without jobs. “The government needs to step in to provide support and help to families. The health and wellbeing of people should be the biggest priority of the government,” he added.
With 16 years of experience, Mayank also explained that businesses, especially SMEs run by people of colour make for about one million businesses that really employ 3 million people.
Citing lack of access to support from the government, lack of awareness, Mayank mentioned that most of these people are in businesses that are worst affected by the pandemic or hospitality or low pay. “Whether it's about access to finance, furlough scheme. We need to do more to support minority businesses,” he added.
Richard Burge, Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “If the data says that a delay in further restriction easing protects the health of their staff and customers, then, as they have done all pandemic, businesses will play their part. But the government must ensure that businesses directly and indirectly impacted by this delay are sufficiently supported.
“Businesses that cannot open their doors, or those in quiet city centre areas like the City of London that were banking on a return of commuters from June 21, should not have to now pay increased furlough contribution. Nor is it the right time for the business rates holiday to end. Plus, many of these directly and indirectly impacted businesses, and those who are self-employed in impacted sectors, will also require further financial support.
“In London these issues are further exacerbated by the curtailment of international business travel. The government must use this delay period to ensure that we finally have a border system in place that allows for sustainable economic recovery. Otherwise, we will not capitalise upon the success of the NHS vaccination programme.”
Responding to the latest unemployment figures, Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP said, "There are real signs of recovery in the labour market with tens of thousands of Work Coaches working hard to support people across our growing network of Job Centres to help build their skills, get interviews ready, and find their next roles - with over three quarters of a million vacancies out there.
"Our Plan for Jobs is working - creating new opportunities and boosting job prospects right across the country - as jab by jab we lay the foundations to build back better."
But Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said, "A fall in unemployment is always welcome, but the Government must provide further reassurances to business, or we risk a jobs disaster when the furlough ends. The support furlough offers will be reduced from next month and will end abruptly in September. We must not underestimate the impact this withdrawal will have on people’s lives at a time the pandemic and its new variants are still forcing businesses to close. This latest delay to the roadmap, emphasises the need to extend the furlough scheme and provide businesses with the certainty they need to drive our recovery.”
