Businesses call for clarity on lockdown as fears grow for firms and jobs
Business leaders’ group the Institute of Directors (IoD) has called on the government to provide more information about reopening the economy as bosses grow fearful about their firms’ prospects after the coronavirus outbreak.
It comes as a report shows that one in three jobs are at risk in some parts of the country, including the constituency of chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to return to work today after his illness with coronavirus with the cabinet divided about easing lockdown restrictions.
Johnson is thought to prefer caution, fearing a second wave of infection. “Hawks” such as cabinet secretary Michael Gove are thought to want some measures to be lifted to take the strain off the economy.
The IoD today said businesses need some clarity as they struggle to stay afloat amid plunging demand.
The business group’s poll of members showed bosses were at their most pessimistic about their firms’ prospects since the survey began in 2016. Business leaders’ confidence in the economy plunged to its lowest since the IoD’s polling started.
IoD director general Jon Geldart said: “Over the last few days the clamour from our members for information on how, and when, coronavirus-related restrictions will begin to lift has increased substantially.”
He called for information from the government about what stages of reopening businesses might expect.
“It’s in everyone’s interests to get the economy off life support when it’s safe to do so,” Geldart said.
“Business leaders know this will not happen all in one go, but that’s why it’s even more important to tell them what they need to prepare for.”
The IoD’s call came as a separate report from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) showed that a third of jobs are at risk of being lost during the coronavirus lockdown in some areas of the country.
Head of the RSA’s future of work centre Alan Lockey said those areas “most dependent on hospitality and tourism will be particularly badly hit, especially rural areas”. He said this includes “many Tory shires”.
Topping the RSA’s list was Richmondshire, which makes up the bulk of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Richmond constituency. The society said 35 per cent or 6,000 jobs are at risk in the area.
Eden in Cumbria, which falls in the Tory Penrith and the Border constituency is at risk of losing 8,000 or 34 per cent of its jobs, the RSA said.
Areas with strong service sectors such as Oxford, Cambridge and London are the least at risk. Yet the RSA said that even in these places 20 per cent of jobs are at risk.
A separate report from forecaster EY Item Club said unemployment could hit 6.8 per cent in the UK in 2020.
The IoD’s call for clarity over the reopening of the economy echoes calls made by concerned Tory grandees over the weekend.
City figures Michael Spencer, Peter Hargreaves and Sir Henry Angest, all major Tory donors, told the Sunday Times that the Prime Minister must act to open up the economy in order to save businesses and jobs.