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News and Product Round-up

Petindex Launches Online Show Guide

The Pet Industry Federation (PIF) has today launched its Petindex show guide available to pet professionals who register in advance of the event, which takes place from 26-27 April 2020 at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.

The online show guide is easily downloadable as an app onto users’ smartphones, tablets and PCs.

The paperless show guide not only reflects Petindex’s aims to champion sustainability, but also ensures that visitors can engage with the event in advance.

The online Petindex show guide features trade stand details, seminar times and information and sponsor details, as well as interactive elements which allow users to feedback in realtime at the event. Daniel Everett, Petindex co-ordinator said ‘We are delighted to launch this new app which will be continually updated right up to the day of the show. It breaks the mould of traditional pet trade shows and showcases the innovative approach that we are taking with Petindex, which is positioned differently to other trade shows in the UK, because of its aim to bring all types of pet businesses together, not just the traditional retailer/manufacturer combination.’ Access to the online show guide is

available to any pet professional who registers to attend the event. Upon registration, a code is released allowing people to access the show guide and plan their visit to make the most of their time at the event.

Petindex registration is free and available at www.petindexshow.com

Wetnose Animal Aid – Celebrates 20 years of Helping Animal Causes

This year’s Wetnose Day is Friday 18th September and it will be 20 years since husband and wife team Gavin and Andrea Gamby Boulger, who saw that small animal rescue centres were struggling to keep going, first established their fundraiser. They had run a boarding/rescue kennels of their own in Hales near Loddon, Norfolk but sold the business to concentrate on supporting others. Sadly, Gavin passed away in 2015 but Andrea continues the work with a team of dedicated volunteers.

“Wetnose visits as many small rescue centres as possible and helps in any way we can – whether it is air conditioners, microscopes, scanners, parrot cages, field shelters or rugs,” says Andrea. “We have helped Pact Animal Sanctuary in

4 | www.christiesdirect.com Norfolk with two hedgehog units worth £1350, Foxy Lodge in Hemsby with help towards new steel pens and donation of £650, Fritton Owl Sanctuary with vets bills and Venue Farm in Norfolk with a £2500 vet bill, and many others on our website, it’s neverending.”

Currently, Wetnose is trying to raise extra money for the rescue centres affected by the recent floods – as well as taking in more abandoned

and desperate animals that have lost food supplies and bedding in the wet weather.

For more information visit: www.wetnoseanimalaid.com or telephone 01508 518650.

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London Dog Week’s Official Vet, Dr Stephanie Wenban from Pet Wellness Expert offers advice surrounding Covid-19 and dogs as follows:

Can I pick up the virus from a dog? There is no evidence that pets are a source of transmission to people.

However, we do know that humans are able to pass Covid-19 on to their dogs.

So far there has only been one confirmed case of a dog showing no signs of illness, testing weakly positive for Covid-19 in Hong Kong. If you do become unwell, it is a good idea to practice good hygiene - washing hands regularly, avoiding kissing the dog and self-isolating.

Have there been any tests to confi rm this? There is no evidence to support dog to human transmission, possible animal sources of Covid-19 have not been confirmed.

What are the chances that other dogs will have the virus like the dog found with trac-es of the virus in China? The World Health Organisation has stated that there is no evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus. There-fore, there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals which may compromise their welfare.

The significance of one positive dog within an entire population is still being re-searched, but it is known that so far there have been no other dogs testing positive for Covid-19. At this point testing in dogs has been more limited whilst resources are largely focussed on humans, so we will know more of the exact figures in time.

What if someone in the family self isolates – how should they then respond to their own pets? The risk of transmission between humans is from contact with droplets

from an infect-ed person - for example when they cough or sneeze. These droplets can survive in the environment, and potentially on dog bowls or fur. So, it is best not to allow the dog to mix between infected and non-infected family members.

If isolating alone with your dog, ensure that you have enough supplies such as food and any medication your dog may need. Practice good hygiene, and if you are un-able to walk your dog, try adding mental stimulation such as feeding puzzles or teach-ing them some new tricks, additional training and exercises at home.

Do you advise your pet to be stoked by other stranger/ humans? Research suggests Covid-19 may survive in the environment for up to 9 days, so it is best to maintain social distance with your dog from anyone experiencing symptoms such as coughing. If you are concerned your dog may have come into contact with a symptomatic person then be sure to practice good hygiene such as giving them a rinse and washing your hands. However, your dogs will give those selfisolating the extra emotional support and happiness they need during these challenging times.

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COVID-19 Advice

Here is a brief summary of the support available for businesses and their staff, as well as the self-employed, and some of the practical aspects. Please bear in mind that the situation is changing on almost a daily basis, so this is correct at the time of going to press:

Employees and employers Staff who cannot work due to coronavirus and are eligible for Statutory Sick Pay will get it from day one, rather than from the fourth day of their illness –retrospectively from 13 March 2020.

Statutory Sick Pay will be payable to people who are staying at home on government advice, not just those who are infected, from 13 March 2020. If employees need to provide evidence to their employer that they need to stay at home due to coronavirus, they will be able to get it from the NHS 111 Online instead of having to get a fit note from their doctor – this is currently under development and will be made available soon.

Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be able to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for employees unable to work because of coronavirus. This refund will be for up to 2 weeks per employee. The 250employee limit is measured on 28 February 2020, although it is currently unclear how the connected companies’ rules might apply. Developing a mechanism to enable businesses to recover coronavirusrelated SSP is some months away. In the interim, employers might want to make

8 | Total Grooming Magazine payments of SSP related to COVID-19 within a special pay element within their payroll set up for this purpose so that they can easily evidence a future reclaim.

HMRC has also been asked whether in the interim there will be any advanced funding for SMEs. A reply is awaited.

Self-employed The Chancellor has just announced a package for self-employed to help deal with the financial effects of COVID-19, The package is to be called The Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

The scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed.

Who can apply You can apply if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you: • have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19 • traded in the tax year 2019-20 • are trading when you apply, or would be except for COVID-19 • intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020-21 • have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19 Your self-employed trading profits must also be less than £50,000 and more than half of your income come from self-employment. This is determined by at least one of the following conditions being true: • having trading profits/partnership trading profits in 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your total taxable income • having average trading profits in

2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 of less than £50,000 and these profits constitute more than half of your average taxable income in the same period If you started trading between 2016- 19, HMRC will only use those years for which you filed a Self-Assessment tax return.

If you have not submitted your Income Tax Self-Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19, you must do this by 23 April 2020.

HMRC will use data on 2018-

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19 returns already submitted to identify those eligible and will risk assess any late returns filed before the 23 April 2020 deadline in the usual way.

How much you’ll get You’ll get a taxable grant which will be 80% of the average profits from the tax years (where applicable): • 2016 to 2017 • 2017 to 2018 • 2018 to 2019

To work out the average HMRC will add together the total trading profit for the 3 tax years (where applicable) then divide by 3 (where applicable), and use this to calculate a monthly amount. It will be up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for 3 months.

HMRC will pay the grant directly into your bank account, in one instalment.

How to apply You cannot apply for this scheme yet. HMRC will contact you if you are eligible for the scheme and invite you to apply online.

Individuals do not need to contact HMRC now and doing so will only delay the urgent work being undertaken to introduce the scheme. You will access this scheme only through www.gov.uk. If someone texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC, saying that you can claim financial help or are owed a tax refund, and asks you to click on a link or to give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, it is a scam.

Businesses The dedicated HMRC helpline for businesses and self-employed individuals who have difficulty with paying their tax due to COVID-19 promised at Budget 2020 is now in operation. The number of the helpline is 0800 0159 559.

The helpline can assist with: • setting up a time to pay arrangement, • suspending debt collection proceedings, and • cancelling late payment penalties and (unusually) interest. 2,000 experienced HMRC staff are available on the helpline but it is

10 | Total Grooming Magazine not completely clear whether this is additional resource or a deployment. Precautionary requests for time to pay made now may be sensible, to avoid cashflow difficulties later.

Also, arranging additional bank finance now, before cash becomes short, may be a sensible move – especially as there are to be government guarantees to support lending worth up to £330bn.

This scheme will take the place of the current Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) over the coming weeks and aims to provide businesses with easier access to finance during these challenging times.

While the borrower will remain fully liable for repayment of the facility, security to the lender will be provided by the government who will guarantee 80% of the amount borrowed – which will make this an attractive proposition to lender and borrower alike. A range of revolving and term finance options will be made available through CBILS, including: • Business loans and asset finance (terms up to ten years) • Overdrafts • Invoice finance and revolving facilities

(terms up to three years) CBILS is aimed at small UK businesses which are otherwise viable, yet experiencing cash flow problems and interruption to trade due to the escalating spread of COVID-19. Eligibility, therefore, is limited to those companies with an annual turnover not exceeding £41 million and those without adequate security to obtain funding directly from the lender under ordinary circumstances.

Government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments.

Grants announced in the Budget to small businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief have been increased from £3,000 to £10,000. Finally, the changes on IR35 have been postponed until 6 April 2021.

Home-owners Mortgage lenders will provide threemonth mortgage holidays for those that need them.

We will pass on further details as they become available; our advice though is to make full use of the support that’s available now, before any possible cashflow issues start to show.

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Created from our Revolutionary insulated panel, the Palace provides groomers with unrivalled benefits never seen before in the industry! This amazing new concept was born due to our lining's incredible lifespan - they often out live the vans they were placed in - so we created a demountable pod where your business can be moved on to the next chassis easily when needed - or if you no longer wish to be mobile, you can demount the pod and work from your garden!

As the chassis ages, the Palace can be removed and placed onto a brand new chassis - resulting in a much cheaper cost than having to buy a whole new van and conversion with next to no downtime If the chassis is involved in an accident or breaks down you can simply remove the body, place it on the ground and work from your driveway whilst you wait for it to be repaired. The lining will not out live the vehicle like so often seen with used van conversions. You then have to sell the van & conversion and then buy a new van and conversion and wait whilst it is converted. Whereas with the Palace, you can keep the pod forever and change the chassis as you need to. Once you choose to retire from mobile grooming you can remove the Palace, sell the chassis and work from the Palace in your garden instead of having to buy a parlour or convert a room in your house. When you choose to move home, you can take the pod with you and this portability combined with the size means they will not normally require planning permission in your garden. You never need to buy a Brand new chassis that can depreciate - simply buy used a chassis and then swap them out as they get too old. Smaller than its LWB Van equivalent but provides a more workable space inside that is highly customisable as there are no van strutts or vehicle constraints Can be driven on a normal car driving license

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G;Rooms Our fantastic portable grooming Pods allow you to groom from the comfort of your own garden in a fully waterproof, insulated & professional environment. They are completely self contained - for electric you simply plug the cable provided into your house, for water in you simply attach your garden hose and this is piped straight to your Hydrobath. Waste water is held inside the bath and piped out to a location of your choice. The Pods do not normally ever require planning permission and they can be delivered to even the hardest to reach locations. And if you move house? our Pods move with you! Each pod is fully portable and can be moved an unlimited amount of times. Choose from an unlimited amount of interior & exterior options with fully customisable packages to perfectly suit your budget and design with ever Pod and conversion available on finance from as little as £20+vat per wk!

Trailers Made from our Revolutionary insulated panel, our VCA Approved Grooming trailers provide the perfect solution if you would like to work from home and be mobile without the running costs associated with a van - with no tax or MOT required with trailers! You can leave the trailer on your drive way or hitch up with your vehicle when ever you need to. And when you have finished being mobile you can permanently demount the trailer from the axels and use it as a Garden Pod!

Vans Our industry leading dog grooming vans provide unrivalled levels of luxury combined with practicality. Choose from new or used vans or supply your own, we work with you to create the perfect package for your business. Complete with a 10 year lining warranty our conversions outlive and out perform all in their class with a build quality that is second to none. Unlimited optional extras and packages are available including sign writing and free delivery back to you. New vans Available fully converted from just £68+vat per wk!

Portable Palace Your parlour for life. Our new revolutionary demountable Palace offers benefits never seen before in the industry. Once your chassis reaches the end of its life or is involved in an accident, you simply demount your Palace and work from home or swap it onto a new chassis. If you no longer want to be mobile you can demount the pod and use it as a parlour in your Garden. The palace’s can be driven on a standard UK driving License and are often smaller than their van based equivalent whilst giving you more usable space. Available in a wide range of sizes with unlimited conversion configurations. Available on finance