Fears grow for the future of small businesses
At least 250,000 small firms are set to go out of business without further help during the coronavirus crisis, a new report has warned.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said its research showed that one in five smaller companies cut jobs in the three months to December, and one in seven expect to do so in the coming quarter.
A survey of 1,400 firms suggested a record number of small business owners were planning to close over the next year.
FSB chairman Mike Cherry said the development of business support measures had not kept pace with intensifying restrictions caused by the virus crisis.
He said: "As a result, we risk losing hundreds of thousands of great, ultimately viable small businesses this year, at huge cost to local communities and individual livelihoods.
"At the outset of the first national lockdown, the UK Government was bold.
"The support mechanisms put in place weren't perfect but they were an exceptionally good starting point. That's why it's so disappointing that it's met this second lockdown with a whimper.
"There are meaningful life lines for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses, which are very welcome as far as they go.
"But this Government needs to realise that the small business community is much bigger than these three sectors.”
A Business Department spokesman said: "We understand these are extremely challenging circumstances for businesses, which is why we have put in place one of the most comprehensive and generous packages of business support in the world worth £280billion.”