The new year could see ‘dire consequences’ for businesses in Enniskillen and across Northern Ireland if they do not receive clarity and financial support from the government, a business leader in the town has warned.
Enniskillen BID (Business Improvement District) manager Noelle McAloon said there has been a clear downturn in footfall on the high street in recent weeks, despite a strong year for many town centre businesses.
With the NI Executive set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the way forward as cases of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 continue to rise, Noelle told MyFermanagh that businesses in the town need clarity and financial support.
“All the businesses want to be able to support the health service, and they want to be able to keep everybody safe,” Noelle said.
“But I think we have to be completely realistic, you can’t say please stay at home and don’t go out, because it will have a huge knock on effect on our business community.
“They want a very clear message, the clarity is always lacking and they want financial support.
“January and February are always not greatly positive months so in order for businesses not to close and let staff go they need some clarity from the government and financial support.
“We’re talking about dire, dire consequences and it’s so frustrating for businesses.
“It was a very busy summer and we had a really nice busy September and October and what people were telling me was that they needed more staff.
“Now we’ve got a situation where people are not coming out and the staff that are there and have been working hard all year, business owners are saying we have no money coming in to pay them.”
Business owners in the Co Fermanagh town are now facing a dilemma, Noelle added, as falling customer numbers mean they will struggle to retain staff.
She added: “I can only imagine the conundrum that the business owners are finding themselves in at the moment.
“These are people, people that have families and they want to enjoy their Christmas and not have these worries.
“These businesses keep us all ticking along, behind every business there are people and families that are worried about how they are going to cope.”
With a strong Spend Local message being urged by government departments and local authorities in recent times, Noelle said the months leading up to December had been positive ones for the town.
“I think retail and hospitality had been fairly happy with how the trading had been going.
“November was a good trading month but I think everyone would agree that the town is quieter than what it would normally have been.
“I’ve got a feeling that there is that disbelief that we are still in the air and it is still affecting people’s shopping habits.
“Overall in the year businesses in Enniskillen have traded well, but businesses in the high street need a busy Christmas because there is always that dip in January and February.
“I always applaud the resilience of business, but I’m sure they need more than my gratitude. It’s a worrying time for hospitality and retail, and I think everybody is just very tired.”
