Businesses in Leicester are taking legal action against Whitehall for the huge impact of the localised lockdown on their finances.
They have accused Government of mishandling the situation and creating potentially long-term impacts on the city’s reputation
Businesses in the city and parts of the county have suffered a huge blow in recent weeks after a regional lockdown was imposed following a local spike in Covid-19 cases.
READ MORE: {}
It meant all non-essential shops in an area stretching outside the city boundary were forced to close and have only recently been allowed to reopen.
There are still restrictions on movements, and shops, bars, cinemas and hairdressers have all been forced to stay shut.
Shaf Islam, owner of Chutney Ivy restaurant, is one of ten firms involved in the legal action.
He said: “The thing that has really made my blood boil is that people call up, who before might have postponed, but are now cancelling and not because they want to, but because their guests from out of town don’t want to come to Leicester.
“I’ve been calling it the Truman Show, living and working in the city it feels like we’ve been made an example of like we’re an experiment, imagine how it must look to those outside the area.
Most Read
“People don’t and won’t want to come to Leicester because of this and that means that we will all suffer.
“The mishandling of the local lockdown by the Government has made us look like lepers and it’s not fair.
“It’s heart-breaking, this is the city I love, the only city I’ve ever known. Leicester is the poster city for multiculturalism and diversity and now it has a reputation for being the only city to have a local lockdown.”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) told Business-Live sister site LeicestershireLive it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
Mr Islam said it was frustrating that people think the businesses are only pursuing the action against Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, for compensation.
He said: “This isn’t about financial compensation. It’s about repairing our city’s reputation and them admitting that this could have all been done better.
“I’m no expert and I think some of the schemes and measures that the Government has introduced have been good and worked well but the way they have treated Leicester hasn’t been, they have placed a glass dome over our city and let everyone look in.
Don’t miss
“We have heard everyone say that we are in this together, this is something that everyone is going through globally so to be singled out has made Leicester feel alone.
“When you have invested your life and your life’s savings in a business, it’s hard to take something like this. I just look forward to welcoming people back.”
Leicester Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he understood the firms’ concerns and vowed to ensure our “resilient” city will fight back.
The city mayor told BBC Radio Leicester: “Leicester’s got a tremendous amount to be proud of and we could have done without the Government deciding it was going to make an example of somewhere and picking on us.
“It has been damaging to us of course it has, but we will work with all of our partners to bounce back quickly from this and ensure that our reputation isn’t permanently damaged.”
Leicester Business Improvement District director Simon Jenner said: "Whilst the health of our residents should always be a priority, we are disappointed for our restaurants, bars, hairdressers, and other sectors who must continue to wait without clear guidance on when they will be allowed to reopen.
"It is now more urgent than ever that government recognise the continued restrictions in Leicester – and continuing restrictions for certain sectors – has resulted in our businesses suffering above and beyond the rest of the country. It is imperative that an extended business support scheme is implemented in the city.
"We have written to the Chancellor suggesting extra support is drawn from unspent funds that were allocated to the city to administer the national business support schemes.
"Leicester City Council currently holds £10 million in unclaimed funding, which under current regulations needs to be returned.
"On top of this, from August 1 the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will begin to be phased out with a reduction in the amount that can be claimed for furloughed employees’ salaries - from 80% to 60%.
"This will mean further tough decisions and potential job losses for the city’s businesses, many of whom will not be able to cover increased staff costs after months without trading and no opening date in sight.
"We have written to the Chancellor requesting that the existing scheme remains in place for those businesses who cannot reopen, enabling them to access 80 per cent of furloughed employees’ wages for as long as enforced closures are in place."