A Greater Manchester organisation representing more than 30,000 firms have penned an open letter to government outlining three key requirements to ‘keep the economy moving’.
The Business Representative Organisation - which covers around two-thirds of employees - sent the letter as it anticipates the introduction of the tiered framework for local social distancing.
The organisation has proposed a new tiered frame for local lockdowns, built on the foundation of a “fully-functioning” test, trace and isolate system and called on the government to review work from home guidance for Covid-secure workplaces.
It also called for improving the support package for critically-affected sectors - such as aviation and hospitality - for which it also requested the government pause the scrapping of tax-free shopping for international visitors and extend the VAT reduction for hospitality businesses for the rest of 2021.
The organisation said the coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately impacted big cities.
“The impact of Covid-19 on Greater Manchester businesses is enormous in the short-term, and with potentially profound long-term implications,” it said.
“We need to set a platform for the immediate future that enables our businesses to emerge from a position of strength, driving forward both the city-region and our country’s economic revival.”
The Business Representative Organisation said, if the government were to introduce the proposed tiered approach to local restrictions, it must have a fully transparent and evidenced based set of criteria for tier designation, consistently applied across the country, enabling businesses to understand and plan ahead.
The organisation said the recent set of local restrictions introduced by government with little warning or consultation has left business both confused, frustrated and unable to operate effectively.
It called for proportional compensation where restrictions, including local, need to be imposed
“It has been unfair for government simply to suggest that businesses are not viable or ‘Zombie-like’, when their position is a direct consequence of state restrictions as opposed to market or individual business decisions,” it said.
The Business Representative Organisation said the guidance calling for people to work from home, which could last for six months, had “significant impact” on business activity and has “severely dampened” business confidence.
It has called for a “targeted approach” where businesses which demonstrate they can operate a Covid-secure workplace should be allowed to continue office-based business activity at reduced levels.
It said the long-term impact of businesses unable to use Covid-secure workplaces is having “severe and escalating impacts” on employee welfare, business productivity, innovation and survival.
