With Spring in the air and vaccinations on the increase it is pleasing to see many of our local businesses feeling a little more upbeat than they have had cause to feel for over 12 months now, writes Phil Collier (pictured), Federation of Small Businesses Area Leader for Cumbria.
We have noticed this from our conversations with small businesses in our recent events and meetings. It isn’t the experience of everyone though and we need to make sure that when parts of our economy see sales increase that we try to get that to filter down so that we don’t leave others behind.
Many of our small businesses are going to be focusing on survival for some time yet. There are deferred payments to be caught up with and Bounceback loans to be repaid. Many small businesses are therefore not confident about planning too far ahead, there are too many short term hurdles to get over.
FSB has been working hard behind the scenes speaking to decision-makers and making sure that we don’t see any attempt at a tax grab which would surely derail a recovery before it has even begun.
The Restart Grants will be a big help for those non-essential retailers, leisure and hospitality businesses who have been closed again for a period, helping them to reopen safely, pay their overheads and help them to do some marketing to communicate that they are open for business.
We are also going to see some extra discretionary funding via local councils, though there will likely once again be limitations on these funds leading to many businesses feeling that there isn’t a great deal of discretion actually allowed or encouraged.
There is a sizeable proportion of businesses who keep missing out on support. Businesses who aren’t closed but can’t really operate anywhere near capacity and have had a real struggle for the last year.
Tradespeople who are allowed to operate but are finding that people don’t want contractors in their homes; sandwich shops and food and drink businesses in our centres which cant earn a living because there is no footfall; businesses dependent on the visitor economy but without their own premises.
These people keep falling between the cracks in support, and it is very difficult to offer them comfort knowing that they have businesses barely keeping their heads above water, and that their employees and families are dependent on them.
That’s why its important that as parts of our economy start to recover we see the money recycled and reinvested within our local economies. We need to look after our own. We can all do a little bit to help, by shopping locally, by using local businesses as consumers or by subcontracting with local firms if we run a business.
Lets all commit to supporting our local small businesses and in doing so help them get back on their feet as we look towards a more positive summer.
