Ending of remaining restrictions a ‘huge boost for businesses’

East Midlands Chamber of Commerce has welcomed plans to lift the majority of remaining Covid restrictions but urged Government to go further and reopen borders to trade and tourism.

Responding to the Prime Minister’s confirmation that the majority of the restrictions would be lifted should stage four of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown start on 19 July, East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) chief executive Scott Knowles said: “The announcement by the Prime Minister will spread a feeling of cautious relief among businesses, who will view this as a huge boost to their prospects of managing a full recovery.

“This news builds on the positive sentiment we’ve detected in the East Midlands. In our latest Quarterly Economic Survey for Q2 2021, our State of the Economy Index – a measure of the region’s economic health compiled by aggregating various indicators – reached its highest score since Q3 2018 as the steady recovery was replaced with big growth expectations.

“Building on the success of the vaccine rollout, the sentiment of personal responsibility informed by the Prime Minister in how we go about our daily lives in future will allow businesses to plan as they see fit, which in turn will create an even greater sense of confidence.”

Knowles said that while the hospitality industry is enjoying a summer bounce back, he warned that it has still been severely held back by capacity limits that have also affected the leisure and events industries.

“So there will now be a lot of excitement in the countdown to 19 July, when we sincerely hope the Government will indeed go ahead with stage four of its roadmap to reopening our economy and lift almost all the remaining restrictions,” he said.

Knowles said that dropping homeworking guidance for office-based businesses is another important step in the return to normality.

“While we expect the future of work to be a hybrid between the office and home where this is possible for some, the majority of businesses we represent have told us the office will remain a key part of their organisations – especially for younger employees who benefit from working alongside more senior colleagues and have perhaps felt more socially isolated during the pandemic.”

He added: “However, the tough border controls that the Government continues to pursue are a concern, particularly as the travel industry has received no bespoke support during the entire pandemic. Open borders are critical to our country and region realising its potential in a post-Covid and post-Brexit era, so we are eager to understand what its long-term plan is to fully reopen international travel.”