26th August 2022

Written By Chris Terry

FM hosts energy summit 

  • The Scottish Government, energy companies and advice organisations met at Bute House on Tuesday 23rd August for a summit chaired by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Read the press release here.

  • The consensus reached in the meeting was that the UK government should: 1) Immediately cancel any further energy price increase for domestic consumers, and work with the regulator and energy companies to put in place the funding to support this; 2) Provide significant additional support to help households and businesses meet current energy bills and the impact of inflation more generally; 3) Take action to protect small and medium sizes businesses, and other organisations not covered by the price cap, from rising energy costs; and 4) Reform the energy market for the longer term to prevent this situation occurring again in the future.

  • Also, earlier this week, SGF Chief Executive Dr Pete Cheema OBE appeared on Radio Scotland’s Drive Time show and stated that both the UK and Scottish Governments needed to work together now, as a matter of urgency, to address the challenges presented by soaring energy bills for business. He also indicated that consideration be given to introducing a business energy price cap.

 

Making Tax Digital 

  • HMRC have been in touch with a reminder that all VAT-registered businesses, regardless of turnover, must follow the Making Tax Digital rules. This means keeping VAT records digitally and using software to send VAT returns.

  • Find out more about the basics of Making Tax Digital by joining their live webinar - this overview of Making Tax Digital includes: 1) digital record keeping 2) compatible software 3) submitting VAT returns directly from the business, and 4) how to sign up.

 

Scotland Food and Drink Fortnight: 2nd to 16th September 2022 

  • Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight 2022 takes place from 2 - 16 September and will celebrate the story of Scottish food and drink. The campaign will shine a spotlight on the stories of our nation’s best food and drink producers, celebrate the passionate chefs using Scottish ingredients and the national retailers, local shops, markets and cafés that are putting Scottish food and drink front and centre.

  • Our colleagues at Scotland Food & Drink are keen to see as many retailers as possible get involved – they have shared the logo for Fortnight 2022 that our retail members can use in POS, publications, marketing materials, and social media should you wish to do so.

  • They have also provided a link to the toolkit that the Scotland Food & Drink marketing team have produced which gives some more info around how businesses can use the event to create interest for their customers. This will also be of particular for SGF Go Local retailers given the above themes for the fortnight.

 

UK Finance - latest Payment Markets Report

  • Some of the key findings were: 1) Debit cards were the most used payment method, accounting for 48 per cent of all payments; 2) The number of cash payments fell by 1.7 per cent in 2021, although it remained the second most commonly used payment method, used for 15 per cent of all payments in the UK; 3) Faster Payments overtook Bacs Direct Credit as the payment method most frequently used by businesses; and 4) Almost a third of all payments in the UK were made using contactless methods in 2021.

 

Mental health at work

  • Scottish Government recently announced that businesses have access to a free online platform offering practical ways to boost mental health in the workplace – read the press release here.

  • Face-to-face training opportunities, clear guidance on the legal duties of businesses, and specialist third-party contacts will be in one place for the first time – making it easier than ever for employers to access the means of creating a culture of support and wellbeing at work. You access the online platform here.

  • Separately, the See Me in Work portal is a new free digital platform for employers in Scotland, designed to help transform cultures, policies and practices which will change the way mental health is treated in workplaces across Scotland. The four-stage programme takes employers through continuous improvement cycles, which include staff surveys and self-assessment activities, and producing an action plan for the organisation to take forward.

 

Reviewing the current level of Minimum Unit pricing – Online survey by Scottish Government

  • SGF have been invited along to a trade group round table event which is being held by the Scottish Government on 15th September – we have accepted the invitation. 

Price Review

  • However as well as evaluating the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing the Scottish Government are also committed to reviewing the current level of Minimum Unit Pricing.

  • Scottish Government state however that further formal consultation will be carried out in 2023.

 

A guide to funding streams for home energy improvements

  • Please see the attached guide to funding streams for home energy improvements, which has been issued by the Construction Industry Collective Voice (CICV)

 

An introduction to cyber security for staff 

  • CyberScotland partner Scottish Business Resilience Centre have released a new staff induction document titled ‘An introduction to cyber security’. This free online resource, developed by ethical hackers at SBRC, provides easily accessible cyber security guidance, helping you to understand common types of attacks and how to defend against them.

 

Low Emission Zone Support Fund for businesses and Retrofit Fund

  • Energy Saving Trust (EST)have been in touch about the following funds, which are funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by Energy Saving Trust, that we think might be of interest:

  • Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Support Fund offers eligible micro businesses and sole traders £2,000 towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles, plus up to £1,000 for ecargo and cargo bikes.

  • LEZ Retrofit Fund provides micro businesses operating within one of Scotland’s four LEZs with financial support to retrofit non-compliant vehicles.

 

Covid 19 guidance

  • Coronavirus (COVID-19): safer businesses and workplaces - Guidance for businesses and workplaces on reducing the risk of COVID-19 and supporting staff and customers. Also you can access the COVID-19 Vaccine Workplace Materials via the Scottish Government Marketing Resource Centre.

 

ACAS guidance

  • ACAS offer a range of guidance for employers and employees which you can access here and includes resources available to help employers during the Coronavirus pandemic.

  • ACAS now produce a regular podcasts covering a range of subjects of relevance to employers and employees – you can access them here. You can also see which Scottish digital events are available here. There is also free ACAS on-line learning available here. ACAS also produce a Blog on relevant workplace issues.

SGF & retailTRUST supporting your wellbeing

 

See the message below from the Retail Trust:

From 1832 onwards, the Retail Trust has been caring for and protecting the lives of people working in retail.

We believe the health of our colleagues provides them with the foundation to flourish in both work and life, creating a more sustainable and successful future for retail.

Retail Trust supports retail colleagues through all life events, offering emotional wellbeing resources, counselling, personal legal guidance including our free will writing service, financial guidance and debt support, our financial aid and critical incident support.

 Our services are completely free of charge and 100% confidential, available for you and the people you live with. Our telephone helpline is available 24/7 and is here to support you. Register today and put ‘SGF’ as your employer to get started.

Where do you find the guidance?

Visit retailtrust.org.uk and register today, completely free of charge to gain access to our wellbeing hub with over 500 pieces of exclusive content.

Or

Call our telephone helpline on 0808 801 0808

Chris Terry
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