The Director’s Take: There’s a plan for the vaccine roll out, we need the same for business support
“We have a plan for the vaccine roll out – what we need now is the same for business support.
“One of the hardest parts of this third lockdown is the open-ended nature of it. For business, this is frustrating at best, devastating at worst. Last week’s member survey confirmed that 57% of respondents are facing a severe impact from the current restrictions, this is up 2% since the last survey taken in November.
“Certainty is hard to come by these days but, where we cannot be given assurances of an end date, we do need assurances (and detailed plans) of support, so businesses can plan as best they can in this ever-shifting climate. These plans need to be robust and longer-term. Aside from furlough ending in April, we know little else. This information vacuum cannot continue. Almost two thirds of our members (62%) are calling for longer term planning for business support. We are here to make sure these voices are heard and are taking these survey results to key media and stakeholders.
“The weight of Brexit on top of the pandemic is causing extreme pressure for business like never seen before. Businesses cannot operate without being able to see past the next month or two. While this may be sustainable for a few weeks in an emergency, we now find ourselves in the middle of a third lockdown, with no end date and no roadmap to support businesses out of it. We’ll be continuing to speak up for businesses in Greater Exeter both locally and nationally and to apply pressure for a longer-term plan.”
Clodagh Murphy, Chair of Exeter Chamber
Additional Restrictions Grants
It continues to be a priority for us to support and direct members to access these grants across the Greater Exeter area. We are aware of the delay on the roll out in the Exeter City Council, East Devon and Teignbridge areas and we are in close communication with our contacts at the council for updates. We’ll continue to keep our members updated on our efforts to move this situation forward as an absolute priority.
We have now been given the following go live dates for the grant schemes left to open in the Exeter City Council area:
- LRSG (Open) – Thursday 28 January
- Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) – Thursday 4 February
- LRSG Closed Addendum: 5 January onwards – Monday 1 February
- Closed Businesses Lockdown Payment – Monday 1 February
Check which grants are open in your district here:
