Companies in talks with Minister on business help after virus crisis

TWO YORKSHIRE firms have taken part in a “listening exercise” with a Government Minister where they shared their views on the help businesses will need in the coming months.

Leeds construction firm Fallons and East Yorkshire’s Beal Homes were among a group of businesses to talk to Conservative Party Co-Chairman and Minister without Portfolio, Amanda Milling, during a special business roundtable.

The virtual meeting was one of a series being held by the Conservatives to speak to small and medium businesses across the country to hear any views they have during the pandemic and get feedback on Government packages they have been involved in.

The Minister promised feedback about the Covid-19 crisis and business schemes, such as the Job Retention Scheme, could be used to help the Government’s response.

Ms Milling said: “This pandemic is a constantly evolving situation which is challenging for everyone, including our small and medium businesses. The aim of these roundtables is to use them as a listening exercise so I can hear what it is like to run a small or medium business currently and feed those views back to the Government to help direct our responses going forward.

“I’m also keen to hear business views on the future and how the Government can help when the pandemic is over. I want to hear from many more businesses across Yorkshire and the entire country in the coming weeks as we all pull together to get through this unprecedented period of our country’s history.”

Beal Homes, founded in 1968, halted construction on all its sites as a precautionary measure in March. It announced in April that after establishing new site operating procedures, it would “begin a gradual and cautious resumption of construction work over the next few weeks”.