Leave Us Alone, Barry

NTI's landlord is Barry who operates out of a caravan in a lay-by on the A39 near Reading and on Friday he sent a message to our Technical Helpline (£85 per month for unlimited technical assistance? Why wouldn't he sign up for that ...) wondering when he will be able to pick up the rent we have failed to pay for more than two months now. He was eagerly awaiting 30 June when the lease moratorium, introduced in March and preventing landlords from repossessing commercial premises if businesses are unable to pay rent due to the Coronavirus and its myriad of complications, was due to expire.

In the last few weeks the phone lines of the Department for Business ...and whatever they call themselves now have been jangling with calls from trade bodies and other big names from within industry asking for an extension of this moratorium (of sorts). The phone was eventually answered (one near apoplectic caller hung on for an hour fifty minutes as his call was extremely important to them) and the moratorium was extended to the end of September. Call off the dogs, Barry and slink back to your lay-by.