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PRIVACY
Enterprise

Survey reveals extent of potential job losses in Exeter

Study finds more than half of firms are looking at redundancies and downsizing is on the cards too

Exeter city centre before lockdown

More than half of Exeter’s businesses are considering making redundancies as they emerge from lockdown, a new survey shows.

The study also reveals that 66% of companies reported being impacted by the Covid-19 crisis and of those, 60% classified the effect as “severe”.

But this was down seven percentage points from a similar survey in April, though fewer than 3% of respondents said there had been a positive effect on their business.

The survey was carried out by Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Exeter City Council, the Federation of Small Businesses and business development service InExeter.

It found that while almost half of respondents had no plans to make job cuts, 23% were expecting to have to make redundancies and a further 28% were considering it. Of the jobs already lost, 11% of respondents had made between one and five redundancies.

Jo Caine, chamber board director and managing director of recruitment firm Cathedral Appointments, said: “While there are some extremely concerning results from the survey, that we know will result in further closures and redundancies, we are beginning to see businesses rebuild their sales levels and work out how to minimise job losses.”

The survey was responded to by 300 business owners, of which 45% being from the retail and hospitality sector, including shops, bars, restaurants and leisure. SMEs predominated with 86% of those surveyed employing up to 20 people.

Businesses were also asked about their premises and whether they planned to move as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.