Our statement following the Government’s reopening roadmap outlined on 22.02 :
Chris Starkie, Chief Executive of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We welcome the Government’s approach to reopening. Businesses have been calling for certainty and the roadmap helps with this.
“Keeping on top of data, and setting out very clearly the four conditions which need to be met at each stage, will hopefully help businesses to plan ahead.
“However there will still be many difficult months to come, so it is critical that the furlough scheme and targeted financial help continues to be made available for those businesses who remain closed or operating under restrictions.
“The Government must also look at comprehensive support for businesses as the recovery gets under way in the second half of the year, as business failures always rise following downturns.
“Like everyone, we hope that this is the last lockdown our businesses will have to face but we understand that keeping this virus under control, particularly while the nationwide vaccine roll-out is progressing at such pace, has to be the focus.
“As we look ahead to reopening, we’re working with public health teams to support the rollout of Lateral Flow Testing for businesses. The rapid asymptomatic testing is currently in place for businesses whose employees cannot work from home and we would encourage all businesses to enrol in the process to keep their staff, customers and the wider community safe.”
