Small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic with many having to close their doors due to the financial fallout since March 2020s initial lockdown measures came into place.
However almost 2 years later many business owners are still facing the same problems as the government in Westminster’s lack of clarity over covid restrictions over Christmas and the winter period.
Bahar, an employee at a local corner shop, spoke of concerns of a new round of measures over Christmas saying “We definitely noticed less people were coming in due to the Omicron strain just before Christmas”.
The Omicron variant and the subsequent spike in cases across London led to a nervous few weeks in the lead up to Christmas as many expected another set of new restrictions to help bring down hospitalisation numbers.
This compounded with news of lockdowns in several European countries such as Austria, Germany and the Netherlands left employers braced for another lockdown in the coming weeks.
The UK didn’t follow suit however as many felt another lockdown would damage the economy too much. This along with news of a garden party at Downing Street during severe lockdown measures earlier in the pandemic made it impossible for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to pass new measures over the holidays.
The public and even the Prime Minister’s own conservative backbenchers in Parliament were vehemently opposed to any new measures with it being seen as another U turn on getting the country and economy back to normal.
Shop Owner Kenny Gabriem said this on the uncertainty around new restrictions “We depend on students and people just being out and about so keeping everyone out of the house is a big benefit to our business”. Most of Gabriems customers come from people out and about on the streets so during lockdowns his shop is affected greatly.
Commuters also make up a big portion of Gabriems customers as the overground train station and buses stop by. People working from home and not using public transport at pre pandemic rates also affects his profits.
Without any decision either way, to stay open or to help small businesses get through another lockdown, business owners like Gabriem are left in limbo as customers are wary of leaving the house and coming to a physical store.
On Competition with bigger companies like Sainsbury’s Gabriem said “During the 1st lockdown yes, a lot of people were coming to us instead of Tesco or Sainsburys but after that in the next lockdowns more people just switched to shopping online or going to the big supermarkets”.
This lack of action from the government has resulted in Gabriem having to open his shop at 9 am instead of his usual 7 am opening time before the pandemic. Him and many other small business owners have been forced to reduce hours due to not being able to pay staff for these less profitable hours around opening and closing times.
