Following on from my last blog, I am pleased to see that there has been a glimmer of hope for our theatres with the Government throwing them a small lifeline. It doesn't solve the problem but does help a little. I am worried though with the news of an expected second wave due in Winter which could see us lockdown again in January and February, let's hope that prediction is wrong.

What do you think of wearing face masks? I for one think it is a good idea. I went into my local petrol station a few days ago and was the only person wearing a mask when I went into the shop, I did get some very strange looks, but I think that they must help us to protect ourselves and others.

I have my first business meeting in person this week, meeting at the beautiful Dakota Leeds who have all the safety measures in place and are welcoming everyone back. (They do have a fab new cocktail menu too!) We have a socially distance lunch booked with a local PR company as we have a fabulous project with them later this month along with a couple of well known Yorkshire folk, which will be on our website from around 23rd July.

We are working on the next edition of TopicUK and I am excited that it will once again be hitting the printing press. Although we have continued to publish during lockdown, we have only produced a digital version and I have so missed our fabulous print edition. To do our bit of keeping everyone safe, we have arranged to have an antibacterial coating on the cover. Look out for it early August, our Partners The Piece Hall will feature.

I am delighted to announce that as well as our new Yorkshire Businesswoman website, we are working on a digital edition of a new magazine aimed at the businesswomen of Yorkshire, we hope that this will launch on the site in the Autumn. Please do send us your news and opinions and let me know what you would like us to feature.

We have also launched a new website called Yorkshire Kitchen, with beautiful illustrations. (https://yorkshire-kitchen.co.uk) which champions all those wonderful small businesses creating artisan bread, local cheese, beer, gin and growers in Yorkshire, whether professional or amateur, growing wonderful fruit and vegetables. We want to encourage people to grow their own food, even if you just have a small garden or a window box, what can be more satisfying than creating a salad from your own garden? Chef Tim Bilton is onboard and he is sharing lots of recipes and useful tips on using leftovers ensuring you don't waste anything and will share information on good nutrition. Please do let us know if you are a small business in Yorkshire producing quality food.

Stay safe everyone
Gill

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