Image copyrightAlamyImage caption Fisherman Austin Long, 37, sold his catch through Facebook in lockdown to support his family
Some fishermen and women have said business has boomed since coronavirus forced them to transform their trade.
The industry has been hit hard by the pandemic with fish prices plummeting in March when lockdown began.
But some small-scale fishermen said their «saviour» was starting to sell direct to households via social media.
Some businesses also started using sheds and garages to process their catches after lockdown restrictions were introduced.
Cornwall Rural Community Charity (CRCC) said it helped 25 businesses to secure grants to diversify.
Image copyrightSam ChapmanImage caption Sam Chapman said lockdown was «terrifying» for his business
Sam Chapman, a shellfish wholesaler in Looe, Cornwall, would normally sell to restaurants. But they closed suddenly and he recalled a «terrifying time» of sleepless nights at the start of lockdown with a three week-old baby to support.
«About 80% of my customers shut their doors overnight… I was just about to do the same, until one of my friends asked me for £30 of mixed fish,» he said.
«I then advertised this on our Facebook page and we never looked back.»
Mr Chapman has continued delivering boxes alongside his wholesale accounts.
Image copyrightSophie HortonImage caption Sophie Horton got an emergency grant to brand her van and deliver direct to customers’ doors
Austin Long, 37, and his father Stephen, lifelong Falmouth fishermen, said they also began selling on Facebook for the first time.
«A boat our size normally has to land all our catch to a wholesale agent,» Mr Long said. «We started to push direct sales and got a grant which let us buy all the equipment to furnish a processing unit.»
He said he initially set up the fish processing plant in his garage but was now awaiting a new shed that would be more suitable.
Mr Long said business had been booming as more people found they could get affordable fresh local fish, which was «a positive for all those communities».
Image copyrightAustin LongImage caption Lockdown started a new wave of customers buying fresh fish more locally, some fisherman said.
Sophie Horton has a fishing lock-up on the seafront in Salcombe, Devon, where she sells fish, crabs and lobsters bought from local trawlers.
She also turned to delivering direct, securing more than £3,000 from the schemes to pay for equipment and advertising.
«It has put me a in a stronger position than before – it has been so busy we cannot catch enough lobsters,» she said.
«People who didn’t buy local before do now – so a real silver lining.»
Image copyrightSophie HortonImage caption Sophie Horton said she can barely meet demand for lobsters now
Poppy Mills, from the CRCC, said many people lacked either the confidence, skills or time it could take to apply for money.
Image copyrightPA MediaImage caption There were protests about the redundancy plans when Tate Modern reopened on 27 July
The head of the Tate art galleries has defended plans to cut around 200 jobs in their shops and cafes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
«Sadly at the moment the trading business is too big,» Maria Balshaw told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
Host Lauren Laverne asked her about the «question mark over 200 jobs at Tate Enterprises», given «no redundancies have been announced at the galleries».
Balshaw said the company had delayed the job losses «for as long as we can».
But fewer staff will be needed in the commercial arm because visitor numbers are expected to stay at around 50% for «quite a long time», she said.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Maria Balshaw runs Tate galleries in London, Liverpool and St Ives
She told the programme: «We are consulting with staff about redundancies. But we have used as much of our own reserves as we can to preserve the jobs throughout this period.
«So staff were kept on 100% pay all the way through lockdown, and we’ve delayed this period of consultation for as long as we can.
«We don’t want to lose any staff, but we know we have to, otherwise the business won’t be able to trade.»
There were protests outside Tate Modern when it, and the other Tate galleries, reopened on 27 July, having been closed due to coronavirus since 17 March.
Balshaw also oversees Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. Tate Enterprises Ltd is the commercial subsidiary, which operates retail, publishing and catering within the galleries.
A number of MPs have raised concerns about the cuts, saying those affected were «low paid with a significant number at risk coming from the BAME community». On Desert Island Discs, Laverne said the union representing those affected wants Tate to intervene.
Balshaw replied: «We have intervened. We’re almost unique in that we run all our own shops and cafes, and that means that everything that people experience at Tate reflects our values.
«But that means, when we are facing 50% fewer visitors coming to our galleries for probably quite a long time, that sadly at the moment the trading business is too big, because we won’t be able to open all the cafes and the shops in the same way.»
She pledged that «as visitors do return and as we get properly post-Covid, they [the affected workers] will be given the first option to come back and work for us because we recognise the hard work that they do and how valuable they are to us».
Desert Island Discs is on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00 BST on Sunday, then on BBC Sounds.
The number of firms planning 20 or more redundancies by June rose more than fivefold compared to June last year, figures obtained by the BBC show.
Data shared in response to a Freedom of Information request shows 1,778 firms notified the government of plans to cut more than 139,000 jobs in June in England, Wales and Scotland.
In June 2019, only 345 firms notified plans to cut 24,000 jobs.
The cuts came as coronavirus wiped more than a quarter off UK economic output.
The figures give an insight into the surge of redundancies announced since Coronavirus blighted the UK.
Airbus, Royal Mail, the airport services group Swissport, HSBC, Centrica and the Restaurant Group, owner of Frankie and Benny’s, were among the businesses to announce redundancy plans in June.
Firms planning to make 20 or more staff redundant have to notify the government by filing a form called an HR1 Advance Notice of Redundancy.
The number of these forms filed with the Insolvency Service shows a steep rise in the number of firms planning to cut staff.
Employers planning 20 or more redundancies
HR1 forms submitted
The figures from May and June show a substantial increase from the same months the previous year, and from March and April, when the coronavirus lockdown began.
Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies, said: «I would expect it to be bigger in July and bigger again in August, because there was a wave of firms that announced redundancies in the first week of July and the first week of August.
«I think it is inevitable now that redundancy numbers will be higher than they were at the peak of the last recession in 2008.»
Companies including WH Smith, Dyson, Dixons Carphone, John Lewis, and Casual Dining Group have all announced redundancies recently, and there has been a surge in requests for redundancy advice.
Adding up the total number of dismissals planned shows a similar picture of stricken employers cutting staff.
Planned redundancies
Proposed dismissals submitted
Though the June figure excludes information from 79 firms, which was not available when the numbers were compiled, it shows a steep rise in the number of positions being considered for redundancy.
The total number of employers making redundancies will be higher than these figures, as firms making fewer than 20 posts redundant at any one «establishment» do not have to notify government.
However, employers often end up making fewer redundancies than the original number they notify to the government.
Consultation process
The redundancy process takes time. It includes a consultation period of a minimum of 30 days for 20 staff and over, and 45 days for 100 or more staff.
This helps to explain why official redundancy figures gathered by the Office for National Statistics do not yet show a significant rise.
In Northern Ireland HR1 forms are filed with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and they are not included in these figures.
In response to the BBC’s findings the Department for Work and Pensions pointed to the measures it has introduced to try to support those looking for work.
«Across the country our Plan for Jobs will give business the confidence to recruit and retain workers… and – through the Kickstart scheme – create hundreds of thousands of new, subsidised jobs for young people,» a spokesperson said.
La compra del centro comercial Calima en Bogotá por parte de Mallplaza, vendrá acompañada de un cambio en la experiencia de los usuarios que incluye la llegada de la marca Ikea a partir de 2023. Ikea es una compañía sueca, principal productora de muebles y productos de hogar en el mundo, que cuenta con más de 400 tiendas en más de 45 mercados de Europa, Asia, Oceanía y América del Norte.
Tras el anuncio de su llegada al país la firma europea especializada en hogar, que fue fundada en 1943, amplía su oferta en América Latina y se asienta por primera vez en Colombia.
“Cuando empezamos a estudiar la posibilidad de comprar el centro comercial Calima encontramos un activo con un tamaño espectacular que está ubicado en el corazón geográfico de la ciudad. Esa ubicación permite tener conectado el norte, el sur, el oriente y el occidente de Bogotá, lo cual es clave para el retail. Todos esos atributos del activo nos permitieron convencer a Ikea que fuera ese el punto de entrada a Colombia”, aseguró el gerente general Mallplaza Colombia, Pablo Pulido.
Mallplaza es una cadena chilena de centros comerciales con presencia en Chile, Perú y Colombia. Con su inversión para la adquisición de Calima, ubicado sobre la Avenida NQS con calle 19, la cadena reafirma su confianza en el potencial económico y comercial del país.
Dura competencia
Ikea, es catalogada como la empresa número uno en el mundo en lo que ha producción y venta de muebles se trata, llegará a hacerle competencia a marcas especializadas en este mismo negocio (con varios años de trayectoria en el país) como Tugó, Easy y Muebles & Accesorios.
“Para nosotros es muy importante llegar al mercado más importante de Colombia que es Bogotá, en un activo que permite apalancar las fortalezas que tiene Mallplaza con una marca muy importante que es la llegada de Ikea”, indicó Pablo Pulido, gerente general de la cadena de centros comerciales chilena.
El empresario afirmó que la idea de llegar con este tipo de tiendas a Colombia, que cuenta con más de 400 tiendas en más de 45 países del mundo, es convertirse en líderes en la experiencia al cliente y ampliar su oferta en América Latina, agregó el rotativo.
“Esa ubicación (la de Calima) permite tener conectado el norte, el sur, el oriente y el occidente de Bogotá, lo cual es clave para el retail. Todos esos atributos del activo nos permitieron convencer a Ikea que fuera ese el punto de entrada a Colombia”, concluyó Pulido.
