Chamber launches post-Covid strategy

County Wexford Chamber of Commerce has launched an initiative aimed at restoring Wexford’s economic prosperity.

Reviving Wexford aims to support local businesses in a post-pandemic environment by lobbying local government and agencies to introduce a new range of measures to enable enterprises to maximise their business opportunities after Covid-19.

Chamber CEO Fiona Lewis said: ‘Covid-19 has ravaged Wexford’s economy and as economic sentiment and consumer confidence levels are approaching record lows across Europe, it is expected that the economy may be slow to recover from the “Covid Crash”. However, through the Reviving Wexford initiative, the Chamber aims to actively attempt to buck the global trends. The first stage of this ambitious project is for business owners and managers to complete an online survey.’

The survey takes approximately 15 minutes and seeks to ascertain what supports businesses in County Wexford will need to sustain their business operations after the immediate health threat of Covid-19 has dissipated.

Ms Lewis said this critical information will be instrumental in formulating the Reviving Wexford Action Plan.

‘The Reviving Wexford Action Plan will form a blueprint for lobbying government bodies and state agencies to provide the supports that local businesses will need to succeed in a challenging market.

‘In the first few days 100 business owners and managers completed the survey. This document will also give rise to sectoral action plans which will be distributed to relevant national and local bodies in May. We are looking for the opinions of business people to help inform our blueprint policy.’

Ms Lewis said 62 per cent of businesses surveyed are not trading. ‘Of the 62 per cent, 66 per cent were closed under Government restrictions for non-essential enterprise. Among the concerns raised by businesses for when restriction are lifted are looking after employees (retaining/rehiring) and getting customers back.’

She said the biggest concern for both now and post Covid-19 is cashflow.

The online survey will be available on revivingwexford.ie until Sunday, May 3.