Business needs help now more than ever

EVEN during the best of times running a business is really hard. Especially for smaller traders, it can be really isolating and tough.

When you are at the top of the company you may make the most of any profits, but you also have the responsibility for all your staff on your shoulders. Ultimately, the success or failure of that business is on you.

The people who start and run businesses in Wales are people who should be celebrated. They create jobs and all the personal and societal benefits that goodquality employment offers people. Nothing is guaranteed in business but, at least, you hope for some consistency. Unfortunately, that is now harder to find than a nearby Covid test.

For the past four years businesses in the UK have had the relentless uncertainty of Brexit. Especially for those who import, export or rely in any way on overseas workers, this has become a nightmare. Then – just as the end of arguably the world’s longest divorce was in sight – coronavirus reared its head.

Yesterday the First Minister told people to stop unnecessary travel. Though he was quick to say he was not closing hospitality, for many, trips to shops and restaurants to spend money are seen as unnecessary.

The Welsh Independent Restaurant Collective, which represents more than 300 independent businesses across Wales, has said: “The sector is already in crisis – from the 6,000 job losses announced by Whitbread to the 12,000 estimated to have been lost so far in the independent sector in Wales alone. The scale of the collapse is beyond dispute even before the additional measures announced.”

Today Chancellor Rishi Sunak is due to announce measures to protect jobs. With the furlough scheme’s closure seeming to coincide exactly with a second wave, such support can not come soon enough. Because we have a higher percentage of manufacturing jobs, Wales is more dependent on the scheme than any other part of the UK. Home working for many is impossible – production lines can’t run through a living room.

Starting a business brings great rewards including potentially huge earnings and flexibility. But the risks and sacrifices are enormous. The very least we can do for our job creators is to give them certainty and a fighting chance to deliver. This is why the Chancellor must show the same determination as he did in March to protect business and livelihoods.