OUR UNPRECEDENTED ADVERTISING GIVEAWAY

Free ads in our newspapers for local businesses – as 1 in 3 fear they won’t bounce back

THE Mail on Sunday today launches a £3million support package to help Britain’s legion of small firms beat the coronavirus crisis.

The owner of The MoS, Daily Mail, the i and Metro is giving away £3,000 of free advertising in its newspapers to each of 1,000 small businesses as they prepare to do everything they possibly can to bounce back from lockdown.

Our campaign is supported by organisations representing hundreds of thousands of local firms which are the lifeblood of the economy.

It also aims to raise awareness of the part we can all play in supporting local businesses as the lockdown restrictions begin to be lifted.

The advertising giveaway, which is being launched in tandem with the Federation of Small Businesses, will be open for applications from Wednesday.

It is The Mail on Sunday’s way of doing our bit to help family firms that provide incomes for millions of local people in towns across the country, as well as assist startups that could turn into the behemoths of tomorrow.

Small companies, which have been battling bravely to keep going with little or no sales, employ 17million people. This represents a huge 60 per cent of the private sector workforce.

Our free advertising offer comes hot on the heels of our Mail Force initiative, which has raised more than £6million to fly in millions of items of vital protective equipment for medical staff and care sector workers amid a global shortage.

The £3million advertising aid package is launched at a critical moment for many businesses.

Two major studies today reveal that swathes of small firms face an uphill struggle to reboot their businesses after lockdown.

A survey by Sage – the FTSE 100 giant that supplies small companies with accounting software – found one in three firms expect sales to be 50 per cent lower after lockdown is eased.

Separate research from specialist legal firm Buckworths found a quarter of small firms do not think the Government’s existing support measures will be enough for them to survive the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost half of the 500 businesses polled are not optimistic about their future and 35 per cent of small firms in the retail, leisure and hospitality industries think it will be a whole year before they fully recover.

There are also concerns that small companies are slipping through the Government’s financial safety net. Much of the help provided through banks has been loans as opposed to grants. Small operators are known to be reluctant to take on extra debt.

Kirsty McGregor, founder of consultancy The Corporate Finance Network, said its research suggested that fewer than two per cent of small businesses have made inquiries about applying for the Government-backed loans. McGregor said: ‘Some of the Government loans have been great, but some have been really difficult to get and very few people have shown an interest.’

Last night, national organisations working with small firms and self-employed traders said those suffering will need much more Government support.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the lockdown had been particularly ‘painful’ for leisure and hospitality firms which could face another six months of hardship. ‘It’s hugely important that people support companies within the community and continue this habit of using local firms as we come out of this.’ She said it would be extremely helpful if members of the public could do their bit to back small hospitality firms by postponing rather than cancelling their bookings.

British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall said: ‘The resilience and innovation of small businesses have driven prosperity in communities the length and breadth of the country for decades.’

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘Our members will be hugely grateful to The Mail on Sunday for this generous offer of support. It’s fantastic to see you getting behind them.

‘The pandemic is likely to have an impact on businesses for months – if not years – to come.

‘Easing the lockdown won’t mark the end of the challenges they face and they’ll need a lot of help to get back on their feet.

‘It won’t be enough to rely on word of mouth to attract new customers. A lot of small firms won’t have the funds they need to get the word out there. We urge every eligible member to apply to be part of this advertising giveaway.’