British Chambers slam “constantly shifting goalposts” in desperate plea to PM
The British Chambers of Commerce have today warned the Prime Minister that businesses are “on their knees” due to new lockdown restrictions.
The body’s President, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, says that the “constantly shifting goalposts” had left many businesses considering “shutting up shop for good.”
In her open letter, she calls for the PM to offer far greater support to businesses, including relief on business rates as well as a more significant grant programme.
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“The current package is simply not enough to compensate for the sever, ongoing economic impact of the pandemic,” she says.
“Businesses feel let down by the Government,” she continues.
A number of surveys have shown that business confidence is falling with the pandemic’s impact lengthening.
The move to Tier 4 restrictions in many of the country’s most prosperous areas has taken a sizable chunk out of leisure and hospitality businesses.
But McGregor-Smith warns that her latest survey shows “the impact is increasingly felt away from the sectors which have been most obviously hit by restrictions.
“It is by no means only leisure and hospitality businesses that are in trouble.”
Britain’s economic uncertainty is heightened by the lack of clarity on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, with Brexit only 10 days away.