Transport for London thanks SME tenants for supporting local communities as it announces ongoing support for businesses on its estate.
Transport for London (TfL) today thanked the many small and medium enterprises (SME) across its estate for continuing to support local communities during the coronavirus pandemic and performing a key role in helping the capital to recover.
Across its unique estate, TfL has around 2,500 tenants, 86 per cent of these are SMEs who have always played a vital part in London’s vibrant economy. Many are now looking to reopen their doors as lockdown measures begin to be eased. Throughout the last few months, businesses across London, including some of TfL’s tenants, have been adapting their business models during the crisis to continue offering their services to customers and the local community now and in the future.
Both Wave Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, located in Stamford Brook, and 58 Gin, located in Haggerston, have previously been recognised as part of the Small Business Saturday’s Small Biz 100. The former is now offering its customers the opportunity to sharpen their martial arts and self-defence skills online and the latter has been using its distillery to make hand sanitiser, providing it to emergency service providers as well as making it available for members of the public to purchase. Meanwhile, Adam Grooming Atelier, who had to shut their unit at Canary Wharf Tube station, are supporting the fundraising of NHS Charities Together by matching donations and offering a discount voucher to be used towards the customer’s next haircut when it reopens its doors. The Bike Shed in Shoreditch has also mobilised their community to create a distribution network of bikers across the UK, who were then able to collect PPE parts for assembly and deliver food and medicine to those who could not get it.
With many tenants across TfL’s estate set to reopen as lockdown measures ease, TfL has written to all businesses confirming how it will continue to support SME tenants across its estate. This includes confirmation that SMEs who are able to safely open will only pay half the normal rent for the next quarter (June to September 2020) and these tenants will also be given three months longer to pay. By offering a continued package of support, TfL is not only helping these businesses to survive and thrive, contributing to their local communities, but looking to secure and enhance the long-term revenue generated from its estate. This can then be reinvested into the transport network. Tenants can also focus on how best to thrive during these uncertain times and have the confidence to do so, rather than have additional unnecessary worries.
These measures also mean that qualifying tenants have a six-month cash flow holiday from rent payments, helping them to focus on paying their employees and ensuring that reopening is carried out safely. TfL will begin to move all its SME tenants from quarterly payments in advance to monthly payments in arrears, providing massive cash flow benefits for those businesses. Larger businesses across TfL’s estate will be offered bespoke support to help ensure they can build up their businesses again.
During the next few weeks, TfL’s property managers will also be in contact with all tenants to complete a Business Health Check. This will ensure that reopening is being undertaken safely and will allow TfL to understand what long-term support each business may need, based on their individual circumstances. Any tenants with outstanding arrears will continue to be given longer to pay while they return to normal, and TfL will work with them to mutually agree payment plans.
Deputy Mayor for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, said: “Small businesses across London face an unprecedented threat to their survival as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. TfL’s approach not only supports these businesses’ immediate need for financial assistance through a six-month cashflow holiday but also provides a more sustainable way for businesses to pay their rent.
“The Mayor and I are encouraging other landlords to follow TfL’s lead and focus on the long-term survival of London’s small businesses, which have such an important role to play in London’s dynamic economy – now and in the future.”
Dan Lovatt, Head of Property Management at TfL, said: “It is often said that the station is the heart of the community, and our tenants, both in and around our stations as well as in our arches across London, have done an amazing job in supporting the city and their local communities during these difficult times. We are pleased to be able to confirm this additional support today for our small and medium business tenants across London. Ultimately, we are only successful if our tenants are successful, and we want to do all we can to help them recover and thrive.”
Len Maloney, Director at Guardians of the Arches said: “As one of the largest landlords of SMEs in the UK, TfL is truly setting the pace in creating the financial certainty we urgently need to begin recovery. Reaching out to its tenants and actively involving us, TfL is pioneering a new way for Landlords and Tenants to support one another in building a viable and sustainable future. We are delighted by this announcement and proudly stand shoulder to shoulder as we all navigate this next chapter together.”
This package of practical business support is part of TfL’s wider strategy to ensure it can continue to secure and enhance the long-term revenue that its estate can generate. As one of London’s largest landowners, with more than 1,000 retail units both inside London Underground stations and nearby, as well as 800 railway arches, TfL is keen to support new businesses where it can as they take the next steps, such as looking for their first bricks and mortar location.
Across its estate, TfL continues to invest in restoring its assets, so that it can continue to attract new businesses and stimulate further revenue generation. In the coming weeks, TfL will begin work, while following Government guidelines, on the refurbishment of the Grade II- listed Victoria Arcade to create a vibrant retail destination in the heart of Victoria. Heritage is at the forefront of the transformation and the arcade’s original and period features will be reinstated or replicated. The extensive upgrade, including new lighting and decoration, will also create six modern, larger commercial units suitable for a range of potential retailers, leading to an impressive space that complements the neighbourhood’s existing retail offering.
News
Rail arches owner extends rental help package for small businesses | London Evening Standard
Leni Jones, Managing Director of Guardians of the Arches said:
“We’re pleased with Arch Co’s offer of further financial support for tenants struggling through the Covid-19 crisis. It’s thanks to the hundreds of tenants who have joined us and made their voices heard that we’ve been able to agree this vital package.
We’d like to thank the Arch Co for their responsiveness to tenants’ concerns since the crisis began. We are all facing unprecedented levels of pressure and uncertainty, and it is a credit to the Arch Co that they have recognised the intense difficulties facing tenants and are doing what they can to support them.
We look forward to continuing our work with the Arch Co, our members and all tenants of the estate so we can make sure this support package gets to the businesses who desperately need it. Together, we can navigate this crisis and come out stronger on the other side.”
Evening Standard: Small London firms call for expanded business grants scheme
Our letter to the Chancellor – Urgent Intervention Required
Thousands of small and micro businesses are falling through the cracks of government support, according to a letter sent by Guardians of the Arches and the East End Trades Guild to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak.
We have conducted a survey of our members and have found that 77% will not be able to pay their next quarterly rent. Among those members who would not be able to pay full rents by June/July, one quarter would have to dissolve their business, one in five would reduce employment at their business, and 18% would have to give notice on their lease immediately.
Among those who might be able to pay rent by June/July, the majority would face negative adjustments to their business and 50% of them would have to make job cuts to do so. Out of the whole sample, 20% would have to dissolve their business if their landlord demanded full rents (at the existing rate) from June/July onwards.
A strong indicator for these results is that 42% of responders have not yet received any government support.
We have written to the Chancellor to set out their troubling findings and suggest four measures which the Government should take to protect small businesses through the Covid-19 crisis.
Please share our letter with your MP and wider networks to encourage them to support this campaign for immediate support.
(Click Letter To Download)
Enclosure from JMA Chartered Surveyors – Download here
These measures, form part of our Manifesto for Economic Resilience.
Leni Jones, Managing Director of Guardians of the Arches, said:
“We represent exactly the type of business that the Government has said it wants to support through this crisis. But despite the Government’s efforts so far, too many of our members are falling through the cracks. As the Government considers further social distancing for the long term, our locally accessible businesses, service providers and community organisations must be protected to keep our economy running.
We are business people, and we’re not looking for free handouts. But the reality is that the Government’s intention to do whatever it takes to help businesses like ours is not feeding through the system, and many of our members are facing immediate bankruptcy as a result.
We are asking for urgent action to shore up the prospects of thousands of small and micro enterprises around the country, before it’s too late.”
A Manifesto for Economic Resilience
This manifesto is a working draft and will be updated in collaboration with our members and partners. We invite you to engage with our working suggestions below and share your experience by emailing: manifesto@guardiansofthearches.org.uk
The people
The East End Trades Guild and Guardians of the Arches bring small businesses and the self-employed together to speak as one. Pursuing innovation and positive change for local independent enterprises and their neighbourhoods through member-led Community Organising. This approach is what distinguishes us from other business groups and is why our work is vital at this pivotal moment in history.
The common issue that has long-bound our diverse membership together is a commercial property market stacked against small and independent business owners. We have campaigned for fair, transparent rents and a level playing field for almost a decade.
In response to Covid-19 and the economic lock-down, we have drawn up a Manifesto for Economic Resilience suggesting strategic measures that address both the immediate survival of small businesses and future sustainability. This is backed by recent and on-going quantitative and qualitative research of our 600+ members to understand what they need to restart their businesses and return to sustainable trading and inclusive growth as well research by the New Economics Foundation and Queen Mary University of London.
Firstly, the government and commercial landlords must act to ensure small businesses can unfurlough staff and commence paying wages again, ahead of efforts to claw back lost rent or make new rent demands. Secondly, regional and local governments must act to bring in an affordable and fair rental framework, based on the research we have carried out over the last three years to ensure the long-term economic resilience of our communities.
Based on our most recent and ongoing consultations to ensure survival now we suggest the following proposals.
Rent
- 100% rent-free period for 6 months, back-dated, from March for all small and micro enterprises tenants severely affected by lockdown
- As businesses reopen, a rolling monthly rent-free, rent reduction or rent deferral provision based on affordability determined by real-time trading conditions
- Extend eviction protection under Coronavirus Act 2020 until December 2020, including those under temporary tenancy arrangements.
- Declare a moratorium on all not-yet-finalised rent reviews until the pandemic is over
Financial support
- Expand business support to include SMEs wholly or mainly reliant upon the retail, hospitality and leisure industries including small manufacturers, light industry, market traders and shared workspace
- Establish a transparent process for appeal for grants and rates relief and application for financial support for businesses affected by data inaccuracies
- Financially support Councils’ use of Hardship Funds for affected businesses currently ineligible for any support including self-employed and owner-directors
- Establish a London weighting for business support thresholds that reflects the higher rateable values
- To build future economic resilience a rebalancing of the property market
- Legislate for and implement a Working Rent system based on security of tenure, transparency and affordable rents.
- Social value-linked rent reductions
- Transparent rent registers for all commercial properties
- Legislate against upward only rent reviews and back-dated rental valuations
- Establish a public register of vacant commercial property to encourage productive use
- Compulsory Sales Orders, where there is a need for land or empty buildings owned by Overseas Landowners, to be brought into productive use
- Community Land Banks based on the US model to allow public or community-owned entities to acquire, repurpose, manage and maintain vacant and abandoned properties to meet local need.
Long term economic resilience
- Investigate the role of a Minimum Income Guarantee in rebuilding and creating economic resilience
- Create a local business support fund mechanism for small, social and community businesses to ensure ongoing resilience.
Covid-19 and the economic lockdown have highlighted the vital social, cultural and economic role small enterprises play in their immediate communities, wider economy and health of the nation. The various government emergency measures announced so far show the government understands this. However, without bold action to tackle some of the fundamental imbalances in the commercial property market, the efforts of government, enterprise support and business owners themselves to survive will be undermined. Bold action now is needed to ensure their survival and future economic resilience.
Background
In recent years dramatic rent rises have squeezed out independent businesses across London and the cities across the UK, threatening the critical diversity of our city’s economic ecosystem. Smaller enterprises are essential to a vibrant and healthy local economy and society. They provide 60% of all employment and sustain a distinctive identity that is the defining dimension of London’s cultural heritage.
Our research shows rapid rent rises are one of the key reasons small enterprises cannot create new jobs or increase salaries of hardworking employees. Unaffordable rents hurt the broader economy – not just the commercial tenants who pay them. The domino effect of each individual member’s inability to trade has implications for so many. What happens to these businesses and the real people and families during and after lockdown? It’s clear that we urgently need radical change if we are to ensure the longevity of a healthy mix of businesses that our Cities deserve, visitors pursue and which is essential for the survival of our communities.
Since 2012, we have used our collective voice and research to create a seat at the table for small, independent businesses with local Councils, Transport for London, The Arch Co, Blackstone, Telereal Trillium and the Greater London Authority. We have shown it is possible to co-produce the policies of large landlords together with community-based small businesses. In this time of crisis, we must bring unlikely and diverse stakeholders together from across the nation to find common ground and tackle the huge issues facing our economy and society now, before it is too late.
VICTORY – WE DID IT! THREE MONTHS RENT FREE FROM THE ARCH CO!
We’re delighted to say that the Arch Co have now offered tenants severely affected by COVID-19 three months rent-free. This will go a long way to putting tenants’ minds at ease at this time of crisis.
We understand tenants can access the fun by filling the online Arch Co form, it’s important not to place further strains on businesses already at the edge so we will continue our dialogue with the Arch Co to ensure all tenants who need it will get this much needed support.
Thank you to the Arch Co, to our negotiating team and to our brave members who spoke out in public about this vital issue. Our members made this happen. Please join us as we need each other now more than ever.