The government has announced that Senior executives in business may be permitted temporarily to leave quarantine in England if you are undertaking business activities that are likely to be of significant economic benefit to the UK.
The reasoning behind this is to enable activity that creates and preserves UK jobs and investment, while in the hope that public health risks are minimised. You will only be exempt if you are undertaking activities that qualify for an exemption.
The exemption covers
- Multinational executives – executives based overseas who are part of multinational firms and visiting their UK based subsidiaries or branches
- Returning executives – executives of UK based firms who are normally based in the UK and who had left the UK on business connected with their UK based firm
- International executives – executives of overseas companies normally based overseas who are seeking to undertake exempt activity in England related to either:
- Making a financial investment in a UK based business
- Placing a contract for the purchase of goods and services from a UK based business
- Establishing a new business within the UK
If your business activities can be carried out remotely then you do not qualify for the exemption.
The definition of ‘significant economic benefit’
If you are doing work that has a greater than 50% chance of:
- Creating or saving at least 50 UK-based jobs in an existing UK-based business or a new UK business
- Purchasing of goods or services from a UK-based business with at least 50 employees. The order must be worth at least £100 million.
Meeting the terms of the exemption
It is up to you to decide whether or not your proposed business activities would qualify and you will need to provide requested details on a passenger locator form to the UK government. You will need to self-isolate and you will only be able to meet others as required by the exempted business activities you are undertaking. During your time within the UK, you should adhere to national and local COVID-19 restrictions in force at all times.
Documentation of proof
When you are in the UK, you will also need to carry a letter signed by a senior executive from either the existing UK based business you are visiting or in the case of the creation of a new business in the UK, the business proposing to create and own that new business. The letter must be written on headed notepaper and include specific information such as your name, D.O.B, passport number, UK address you are self-isolating at, specific activity details, etc. A full list can be found here.
Examples of activity that would or would not be likely to qualify for an exemption:
If your company needs advice on any of the areas above, please get in touch or call +44 (0) 207 183 8786 or email info@paulbeare.com