Small firms ‘spending £22k to reopen’

OWNERS of small businesses are spending almost £22,000 on average to reopen after the economic lockdown, a study suggests.

One in five small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are using their own savings to cover the cost of recovering from the impact of the virus crisis, said Nucleus Commercial Finance. The extra costs come at a time when smaller enterprises have already reported an average loss of more than £250,000 owing to the impact of Covid-19, according to the research.

Implementing new health and safety measures was the biggest cost, as well as reconfiguring office space. Investing in new technology and introducing new contactless payment systems were a bigger concern for medium-sized businesses.

Chirag Shah, chief executive of Nucleus Commercial Finance, said: “Those businesses that are able to reopen in some capacity now face significant costs to ensure they can operate safely.”