A company which owns 29 Subway stores is slowly reopening branches after securing £750,000 from HSBC UK through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Resso Holdings, a Nottingham-based subway franchisee, has reopened 17 of its restaurants across Nottingham, Northampton, Oxford, Leicestershire, Scunthorpe and Spalding for takeout and delivery service.
To ensure staff are well-protected and to create more space for social distancing, the business has added fixed perspex screens in front of the till areas and removed all tables and chairs.
After closing its restaurants in March and placing most of its 323-strong workforce on furlough, Resso needed a cash injection to help tide it over.
Finance director Uma Patel said: “The restaurant sector has been hit extremely hard by the pandemic.
“We had no choice but to close our operations in March, leaving a huge cloud of uncertainty as our income dried up overnight.
“As we prepare to reopen our Subway restaurants, there are still doubts to how busy trade will be but we’ve seen positive signs since reopening our first stores earlier this month.”
“The support from our relationship director at HSBC UK, Simon Woods, has been excellent and we would like to thank him and the team for their continued support during this crisis.”
Liz Fuge, HSBC UK East Midlands area director, said: “HSBC UK is committed to supporting its customers during these difficult times.
“We were happy to support Resso with new funding and are pleased to see the business making small and important steps to reopening. We will continue to work closely with Uma and the team during these times of uncertainty.”
The Resso Holdings group has put the following measures in place:
– Perspex screens in front of till areas and sanitiser available at ordering point
– Tables placed along the counter to distance staff from customers
– Floor stickers indicating the distance between customers
– Restriction as to the number of customers that can be in the store at any one time
– Staff wear gloves when making up orders
– Masks are available to all staff should they choose to wear them
Meanwhile, as part of its strategy to help business owners during and coming out of the lockdown, HSBC UK has:
– Launched loan support through BBLS, CBILS, CLBILS and CCFF
– Allocated £5 billion to help businesses that need support
– Removed the £100 Small Business Loan fee to relieve the pressure faced by SMEs across the country
– Removed informal overdraft fees
– Offered repayment holidays to free up cash within businesses
– Stopped unauthorised overdraft charges
– Reviewed overdrafts or trade loans to allow stock to be held for longer
– Offered companies involved in the supply and manufacture of ventilators preferential pricing, extended repayment terms on loans and fast track approval times to support the unprecedented demand on UK hospitals
– Extended support to customers helping with essential public services and vulnerable people, including those involved in the supply of PPE and food wholesale
– Contacted customers to see what help their businesses need
– Launched a coronavirus helpline
– Launched extra support for businesses trading internationally
