w/c 2nd November 2020
One week down, three more to go.
The announcement of a new national lockdown last Saturday was a blow to many businesses and this first week of new restrictions has seen a lot of confusion around what they are and are not allowed to do. We all know how difficult the year has been for everyone and many companies were relying on this key festive trading period to recoup some of the significant losses that had been made following the months of closures and the subsequent slow return of customers.
Last year a YouGov poll revealed that in the UK we typically spend an average of £1,116 on Christmas with over a third of this going to presents. But what will these figures look like for this year? Aside from the obviously huge impact of job losses and reduced incomes, the new round of restrictions will reduce our access to businesses that would otherwise be vying for the money in our purses.
Thankfully high street retailers will still have two opportunities to continue trading – providing either delivery to your home or an option to ‘Click and Collect’ at the business itself. If you are opting for an at home delivery, at Southend BID we are urging everyone to choose outlets that have a presence in our high street. Choosing to support those independent and national companies that are within our local communities, over those large scale firms that are purely online, will have a big effect on how our towns look on the other side of these measures and in the months, and years, to come.
Another way to continue showing support of our local businesses is to all protect each other by sticking to the new measures that have been set out. Keeping our cases low in Southend will ensure that when restrictions are eased again, our businesses will be in a better position to bounce back quicker. Let’s all do our part to stay safe this month to save lives, businesses and jobs in our community.