It may not be all we asked for but this cash will help

It’s funny the difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, we’d have been hailing to the rafters the awarding of £7m to Portsmouth to improve high streets, confident that it could make a big difference. And 12 months ago £7m may have seemed like a lot of money – but given the largesse that the government has had to exhibit in 2020, with billions doled out by necessity for economic support, one could be forgiven for feeling underwhelmed by the cash that the city has been given under the Future High Streets fund.

However, let us not be churlish about this. One thing that any regular readers of The

News will have noticed in recent months and weeks is that we have been explicit about covering, highlighting and supporting local small business.

The reasons for this are several. Firstly, as a sector there are thousands of jobs in and around Portsmouth connected to small business. We need them to thrive.

Secondly, a flourishing small business community is more likely to lead to money staying in the city; being spent with other small business or traders. The profits don’t merely get sent off to head office to appear on a ledger there.

Thirdly, individual traders make for more interesting high streets, and often high streets with more expertise, which is a better deal for shoppers. And as shops had to close, we wanted to highlight that local online suppliers were available. Internet shopping doesn’t have to mean Amazon.

So while we initially seem curmudgeonly about the grant, let us welcome it. Yes, as Stephen Morgan and Steve Pitt point out, it’s not all that we asked for. But there is a lot that can be done with that cash and if we could encourage businesses to open, while also encouraging people to visit the high streets, then we give the city a boost as we negotiate – or at least plan for – the post-Covid economy. It’s a start.