In just over a week’s time businesses in Gloucestershire will really start feeling the devastating effects of the Covid pandemic.
That’s because the government’s Furlough scheme closes on October 31 with thousands of employees in the county facing their jobs being in jeopardy.
As yet, we have no accurate idea of the latest figures but at the last count we had something over 930 000 people in the county on Furlough. And I believe that a big proportion of those people will sadly be in the hospitality industry.
So, we really need to be positive about helping to keep companies going through what could well be a jobs tsunami in Gloucestershire- especially for young people and older redundant workers who will need help to re-train.
None of this is going to be easy-especially when you add in what now appears to be gloomy prospects for a Brexit deal.
So, here at Business West we have just launched a Back to Business directory to help signpost businesses to vital business advice, opportunities and support services.
It’s an evolution of our Trading Through Coronavirus online platform visited by more than 100 000 businesses across the South West where we are the largest business leadership organisation.
And the Back to Business directory includes:
- A Finance Hub helping companies to get their finances back on track
- VAT and taxation support-access to specialist VAT and tax advice in all EU member States
- Export Resilience and Preparedness. Access to bespoke advice on VAT and customs for both
- EU, global importing and exporting activities.
The full list of all these services is available on the directory website.
In effect, the directory is a one stop shop offering targeted support for businesses to tackle the dual complexities of Covid and the end of the EU transition period over the coming months.
We are now entering a period of great uncertainty for many of our businesses and we must all work hard to offer them help and advice.
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