The UK government announced today (14 July 2020) that face coverings are compulsory in shops and supermarkets from 24 July 2020 to minimise the spread of the COVID-19.
Today is 14 July 2020 so you have 10 days to get your face covering ready. People who use London public transport to go to work or make an essential journey must wear a face-covering since 15 June 2020. The requirement was mandatory around the same time secondary schools and non-essential businesses were allowed to reopen from 15 June 2020.
This July month further more businesses are reopening and people are also encouraged to go back to work. You will find more people visiting shops and supermarkets. It is a wise move to make it mandatory for people to wear a face covering inside a shop or supermarket to minimize the spread of the COVID-19.
If you are going to buy a face-covering ensure that the face-covering you bought comply with the product safety regulations.
Cost of a face covering
The surgical face mask per piece seems to have dropped compared to last month. Last month, I noted the price for 3 pieces of surgical mask from a local supermarket was £3 and this month the price has dropped to £2.50 for 3 pieces.
Recent social media reports that face masks waste are polluting the environment. Sometimes, you can easily spot blue face masks in London streets. Our accountants use the washable, reusable 3 layers of fabric face coverings.
Use of washable, reusable fabric face covering is cheaper in the long run compared to using the single-use surgical face mask. Say, you bought a fabric face covering for £4 apiece and you can wash it for 30 times (maybe more) that equal to 30 days.
£2.50 for 3 face mask equal to 83 pence per mask, if you use one mask a day, 30 days equal to £25. The general surgical face mask pollution will also go down.
Let’s do a test, light a candle, then you try to sneeze to blow out the candle with your mask on. See what happens. After that, you do the same test using a fabric face covering (usually cotton fabric with 2 or 3 layers one). Your candle stays lit also. Then you compare your outcome to sneeze without a surgical face mask or face covering on, your candle won’t stay lit and your droplets will land on surfaces.
For this reason, face coverings are compulsory in shops and supermarkets from 24 July 2020 would definitely minimise the spread of the COVID-19. a wise move. Read the full guidance from the Department of Health and Social care here.
Make your own face-covering
You can make your own face covering if you are unable to get surgical masks from the shops. The UK government has also published guidance on how to wear and make a face cloth covering.
You don’t need to buy a sewing machine to make your own cloth face covering. You can use your old T-shirt.
The guidance comes with step by step how to make your own face covering with pictures illustration. It is very simple to follow.
The benefit of using cloth face-covering is that it is washable and reusable, it would be more cost effective in the long run. Additionally, you are also saving the environment by reducing waste from surgical masks.
More businesses to reopen this July 2020 with COVID-19 secure measures in place
More businesses to reopen this July month. Every business must implement and comply with the COVID-19 secure measures requirements.
- Restaurants, bars and cafes etc can reopen from 4 July 2020.
- Outdoor swimming pools and water parks can reopen from 11 July 2020.
- Nails and beauty salons etc can reopen from 13 July 2020.
- Indoor gyms and fitness studios etc can reopen from 25 July 2020.
Companies House filings during COVID-19 pandemic
Companies House also gear up to support UK businesses during COVID-19 pandemic. They automatically extend your company’s filing deadline. This will help your company to avoid a late filing penalty if you are unable to deliver your company accounts on time. You do not need to do anything. You just need to go to Companies House website to check your new filing deadline.
Concurrently, your confirmation statement filing deadline will also be extended. You would have 6 weeks to file your confirmation statement. Similarly, for the events driven filings, you will have 42 days (6 weeks) to notify Companies House instead of the usual 14 days filing deadline.
In addition, Companies House also created an interim paperless filing service to accept documents which would normally require a live signature.
You are encouraged to file your company documents to Companies House digitally. You can use the web filing service to submit the following documents to Companies House.
- Confirmation statement
- Company accounts
- Events driven filings using Companies House forms i.e director resigned or change of your registered office address.
- Closing down your company.
To file online, you would require your company’s authentication code. The authentication code is the electronic equivalent of your company’s director(s) signatures. Keep safe your authentication code.
If you require help with your company’s filings, contact Our accountants. They will be more than happy to assist you.
