As the coronavirus crisis continues across the country, it's impact is still being felt within businesses in the North East.
While big name firms were forced to close branches nationwide, local business owners have been left assessing exactly how much damage the virus pandemic will cause long-term.
Take a walk down any high street and the impact of coronavirus is startling.
Hairdressers, shops, restaurants and bars that would usually be busy in such warm weather remain shut hoping to safely re-open soon.
Although the health of the country remains the biggest priority, the ongoing uncertainty continues to have a crippling effect on local businesses.
To help our local businesses during these troubled times, we want to give something back.
Jim Brinkley, director at Reach plc Regionals, explained: “We were astonished with the response of our ‘Supporting Local Business’ campaign, with 1000’s of businesses taking advantage of our exclusive service offers. So it seems fitting that we go one step further with our new initiative #IAmOpen.
“With trading restrictions changing every day, consumers are confused as to what businesses are allowed or not allowed to trade.
“The #IAmOpen campaign helps support local businesses to market themselves effectively in challenging conditions with free services and low cost options, letting businesses tell their local communities on their status.”
How to get involved
For an hour on Thursday (May 21), we will be launching #IAmOpen Hour on Twitter between 2pm and 3pm .
During #IAmOpen Hour, we will be retweeting your business from the Chronicle Live Twitter account to our 189,000 followers.
This serves as a reminder that we are there with you during the darkness and want to help in any way we can.
All you need to do is tweet our @ChronicleLive account with a photograph of you or your staff standing outside or inside your business with a #IAmOpen sign, also including the hashtag #IAmOpen in your tweet.
We want to make sure the people of the region know that you are open and to see the friendly faces that will be ready to welcome them through the door.
So if you have a friend, family member or neighbour who owns or works for a business, please let them know.
