Lockdown until mid-February a 'heavy blow to business'

The extension of lockdown until mid-February at the earliest is a 'heavy blow' to the business community.

 

Dr Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, has called on the Scottish Government and UK Government to provide more help in the upcoming budgets.

 

She said: 'The extended lockdown restrictions will come as a heavy blow to much of Scotland’s business community which is already struggling to keep its head above water and which now faces further uncertainty over when it will be able to open its doors again.

 

'We cannot emphasise enough the importance of increasing the pace of distributing business support grants; this must be accelerated in order to prevent the significant collapse of businesses and jobs.

 

'We also call on the Scottish Government to use the Scottish Budget to outline measures to help restore much needed confidence and investment.

 

'We also urge the UK Government to seriously consider the clear need to extend the furlough scheme beyond April 2021 and outline further initiatives to protect business and jobs at the UK Budget in March.'

 

Andy Spence, chief executive of BID4Oban, said while the announcement was disappointing it was not entirely unexpected and from a personal view he expected lockdown to continue beyond mid-February.

 

He said communities needed to prepare for a long haul and that BID4Oban would be there to support local businesses.