Chamber’s Northern Lincolnshire business leaders call on MPs ‘to have a sensible conversation’ on coming out of lockdown

The Chamber’s Immediate Past President Kathy Fillingham who hosted the meeting.

NORTHERN Lincolnshire business leaders have called for a “sensible conversation” on how the region can be successfully brought out of lockdown as people begin to return to work in the coming weeks.

The call comes following a meeting hosted by the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce which included Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers, and Grimsby’s new incumbent, Lia Nici.

On the same day Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work after being affected by the Coronavirus and saying he didn’t want to cause a second wave by lifting restrictions too early, the MPs were keen to hear of specific issues facing local businesses who are trying to survive the lockdown, but also of problems they foresee in the coming weeks and months.

Chaired by the Chamber’s Immediate Past President, Kathy Fillingham, who praised the “incredible tenacity” of local businesses, the meeting included representatives from Ramsden International, Phillips 66, Engie, Forrester Boyd, Freshney Place, Sylvester Keal, Driver Hire and the Bank of England, amongst others.

Grimsby MP Lia Nici said the Government is doing everything it can at the moment to support businesses. She said: “Many businesses in and around Grimsby are still trading as they are key companies. The issues are pretty much the same all around the country, with many employers trying to protect their businesses with PPE and social distancing measures.

“There are problems with some of the smaller businesses, and some have never taken on any debt before. The biggest issues are with individuals who were in between jobs when coronavirus hit. They have sometimes been told by new employers that they will not take them on, while previous employers have refused to take them back and furlough them”.

She added: “We are a coastal community and if we don’t have a summer season that will have huge implications, but Government is still reviewing that at the moment. It’s easier to get in touch with Ministers than usual and the Government is most definitely listening to our concerns in North East Lincolnshire”.

Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers said: “There has been a clear cycle and I’ve seen a change of emphasis in my emails. There are lots of issues for the self-employed, such as people who are effectively self-employed but have gone into limited companies on the advice of their accountants. Agency workers have also been the cause of an element of confusion.

“The emphasis is now moving to ‘how do we get out of the lockdown?’. Elements of the business community want to move back to some form of normality although they recognise there will have to be changes in working practices”.

Bank of England Agent Juliette Healey said she knew that many businesses were shifting their attention towards an exit strategy – hotels and the hospitality industry are the most vulnerable, and may not be able to pay their May wage bills, although some are successfully mothballed.

“Several of the large house builders were planning a phased return to work and managing social distancing. Some manufacturers, particularly part of supply chains for essential items, were seeing a bit more activity and there was some in retail, particularly between DIY and hardware stores, but largely, from what I’ve seen it’s worked”.

Darren Cunningham from Phillips 66 said: “I think the Government has handled an impossible situation incredibly well, but I am concerned about media coverage”.

It was noted that petrol demand was running at 25% of normal and diesel demand was at 40%, although kerosene levels for the airline industry have been steady.

Members felt it was important to have a grown-up discussion about how we come out of lockdown, but the economy has to restart somehow”.

Sean Ramsden, of Ramsden International, told the meeting they had closed their offices and people were working from home. “Demand is reasonably stable, but a problem was the supply of products. Availability levels were creeping up and were back to around 65% at the moment, but it is still a low level for the industry”.

Kevin Hopper from Forester Boyd said the grants that the local authorities have been giving out have been quite good and the money’s getting through. It’s the Business Interruption Loans that are more difficult to get and if they don’t get them sorted soon it will be hard for many firms to survive.”

Juliette Healey noted the Banks were under a lot of pressure with limited numbers of staff and are facing a high workload. The CBIL scheme requires the bank to assess the 20% of the loan. If it was 100% underwritten by the Government the banks would be able to get the money out of the door much more quickly. It is obvious when you talk to the leisure industry social distancing will be a huge issue for restaurants. There will be “scarring” over consumer and customer levels of confidence, but the Bank of England and the Government are aware of the issues and trade bodies are lobbying effectively”.

Representatives of the sea food industry told the meeting that the Sea Food Cluster accounted for 5,000 jobs locally. It was indicated that the main processors who are processing for the retailers were seeing a really strong spike initially, but that had settled down now.

Lia Nici noted that £10-million had been awarded to the fishing industry last week.

Amanda Austin from Freshney Place noted that retail was a very fragile sector already and Coronavirus had been a massive blow. It was felt retail and the Grimsby Town Deal would have to work hard together for the sector coming out of lockdown.

Martin Vickers acknowledged there was an enormous list of challenges. The Government will look again at the retail sector and there may be further help with business rates, for example, but the biggest challenge will be changing the habits of public behaviour which some smaller shops may struggle with.

Winston Phillips representing Engie noted that projects had initially closed but supply chains were starting to pick back up and people were looking to work safely. He agreed that a sensible conversation about coming of lockdown is the next big step.