Positive news for Southland firms
More than half of Southland’s businesses can operate at 100 per cent capacity under alert level three – the best result so far in a nationwide Chamber of Commerce survey.
The survey, initiated from the chamber’s Auckland branch, asks businesses in each region what their operating capacity is under alert level three, whether their landlords have offered acceptable discounts for the lockdown period, and whether businesses have the capacity to operate online.
Four Chamber of Commerce regions have so far provided results – Southland, Queenstown, Auckland and Hawkes Bay.
Southland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Sheree Carey said more than 100 businesses in its region had responded which gave a good snapshot given the diversity of industries.
The results showed 57 per cent of Southland businesses could operate at 100 per cent capacity under alert level three compared to 24 per cent in Auckland, 21 per cent in Queenstown and 36 per cent in Hawke’s Bay.
It also revealed just 10 per cent of Southland businesses could not operate at all under alert level three compared to 19 per cent in Auckland, 41 per cent in Queenstown and 7 per cent in Hawke’s Bay.
Carey said it was positive news for Southland.
She believed it was difficult to compare regions, given they were reliant on different industries – Southland’s farming base was continuing to operate during the pandemic while Queenstown’s tourism industry was not.
Of more concern for Southland, the survey also shows just 43 per cent of commercial tenants in the region believe their landlords offered them an acceptable discount for the lockdown period.
This compares to 67 per cent in Queenstown, 44 per cent in Hawke’s Bay and 37 per cent in Auckland.
Carey encouraged landlords to have discussions with their tenants to come to a compromise over rent payments and said the chamber network would like to see more Government intervention on the matter.
The final question in the survey asks businesses if they have the capacity to operate online.
Fifty-seven per cent of Southland respondents said yes, compared to 40 per cent in Queenstown, 74 per cent in Hawke’s Bay and 57 per cent in Auckland.
Carey suggested the results could be misconstrued.
Just because businesses had the capacity to operate online didn’t mean they were getting customers or would be viable, she said.
‘‘Overall, we thought the survey results were quite optimistic and it means when we get into alert level two things will only get better.’’