Lockdown will be 'a devastating blow' to Plymouth businesses
That's according to the CEO of the local Chamber of Commerce
Last updated 4th Nov 2020
The CEO of Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce says we will see unemployment rise if sufficient support is not given to businesses.
Stuart Elford has been responding to the news of a second lockdown for England:
He is calling on the Government to provide evidence for the restrictions - specifically for why cases are rising and what settings they're rising in.
He is also urging for them to allow COVID-secure businesses to continue, saying that 'nothing beats a fully functioning economy':
"We've already seen businesses dig into their reserves to get through the last lockdown and here we are again going into another one of indeterminate length.
"Support from the government on some levels is generous. Returning to the previous furlough arrangement is very good and should save individual jobs.
"The problem however, is that the businesses themselves have large fix costs: rent, rates, power, insurance and so forth, and there is just not enough support for them to do this.
Stuart says it would help if the Government deferred business rates completely and provided cash grants.
He is also calling for a long-term plan to be put in place:
"We need a long term strategy for how this country is going to live with the virus because it doesn't seem that we're going to be out of this anytime soon, and we can't lurch from lockdown to lockdown."