Weymouth Chamber calls for clearer Government advice for businesses

Weymouth Chamber of Commerce is calling on the government to bring in long term measures to tackle the pandemic.

They say businesses can't cope with constantly changing restrictions, as well as the prospect of going in and out of lockdowns.

Craig Oakes is the president of Weymouth Chamber. He said:

"Nobody wants to go through the situation of having to close their businesses again. It's the knock on effect of putting employees back into furlough, even though that's been extended and everything, it still isn't very convenient.

"Obviously it's the time of year when a lot of retail businesses that, shall we say, are non-essential would be now building up to people buying things for Christmas.

"The timing is not great."

The Weymouth Chamber is backing a letter from the British Chamber of Commerce.

Craig added:

"We're completely behind the British Chambers of Commerce and Dr Adam Marshall on this.

"The letter that's been written to the government is completely clear basically, they need to work out a longer term strategy and they need to start putting permanent measures in place, even if those measures need to be stripped back once the coronavirus has been dealt with, it if that is the case.

"But they can't keep doing 'think about things' short-term measures, rollercoaster situations for our businesses. They won't cope like that, they won't be able to cope like that.

"We need to start thinking for the long run. They need to be managing that fact."

The letter reads:

“The need for additional restrictions cannot be blamed on a lack of care by hardworking people in businesses across the country. Instead it represents a failure of the Test and Trace system, which must be urgently improved and expanded.

“The Coronavirus is not going away anytime soon. The government must waste no more time in setting out a clear strategy to keep the economy functioning, while protecting public health over the long term.”