I think we all hoped that the start of 2021 would mark the turning of a corner for all our lives and businesses, as we reach the start of February it is apparent that we still have a long way to go, says Phil Collier, Federation of Small Businesses Area Leader for Cumbria.
Government is reluctant to start discussing potential dates for a move out of lockdown, despite the seemingly hourly attempts by the major news outlets to steer them into some crystal ball forecasting.
We all want, indeed need, to move on. We all have family, friends, colleagues and customers we haven’t seen in over a year and we are tired. We’ve all become accustomed to using digital services to video call our contacts, but there’s no substitute for ‘face-to-face’ and though we will all probably still be using these new technologies to cut out unnecessary travelling, especially for business purposes, in the (hopefully!) near future, we are looking forward to the excitement that getting back out there will bring.
We at FSB are pushing hard with central government to get more support for small businesses. There are grants available, but the sums aren’t significant and there are question marks over whether you can get anything at all if you aren’t a bricks and mortar retail, leisure or hospitality business.
This situation is just plain wrong. Absolutely, the aforementioned sectors have overheads which they must keep paying to survive. But what about the other businesses who have seen income fall significantly or completely. We have heard so many awful examples of people who have had their livelihoods destroyed. Yes they are allowed to ‘open’, they allowed to trade, but for many the circumstances mean that they cant earn a living, the demand just isn’t there. Everybody agrees that this is a truly awful health crisis and that we need to solve it, but we need to see businesses adequately supported to come through the other side so that they can continue trading when the virus is under control. We know people who have had virtually no income for 9 months, who are surviving off a £1000 grant, a small amount of savings which have now evaporated, and a bounceback loan.
Taking out loans and deferring payments is a short-term fix, but these will need to be repaid and there is a growing mental health crisis as business-owners and the self-employed deal with a lack of income and debt concerns, as well as their roles as head of household and employer as family members and staff members go through similar difficulties.
FSB is working hard down in Westminster to make sure that those in the corridors of power understand that small business owners need additional support, and we are making proposals as to how this support could be made available. More generous grants for those businesses who have not got premises forced to close, and specific support for Company Directors who cant access the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme are just two of our key asks which we push in our regular meetings. We hope for good news in the coming weeks to alleviate some of the pressures our small businesses and their owners are under at the present time.
