Hopes 2021 will be better year for Scarborough businesses
The President of Scarborough's Chamber of Trade says she hopes 2021 will be a better year for the town's businesses.
The President of Scarborough's Chamber of Trade says she hopes 2021 will be a better year for the town's businesses.
Janet Jefferson says coronavirus has had a big impact on some, with lockdowns and restrictions throughout.
She said:
"I think it's been a very difficult year. People have used new, innovative ideas and how they can deal with business, click and collect, there's been a lot of that, and people have had to make appointments and still been quite busy doing that. The basic thing they've had to do is restrict the numbers of people.
"It's been quite restrictive and there has been periods when there's been no business at all, so I think in the summer people did quite well from what I can understand and the build up to Christmas was also quite busy.
"I think the vaccination is going to play a big part. We've got to be optimistic and hope that by January and February, things might change. We've got to be futuristic and think within our businesses how we can attract trade that's safe for our customers.
"I think one of the streets to me that seems to be affected is Bar Street. In the town centre, we've lost a lot of the major players but the single traders seem to have carried on.
"The small traders that have been in existence for up to three years have been fine with grants and refunds from HMRC. But for businesses that have recently opened up, it would have been a totally different picture."