A business improvement district representing firms in Newcastle city centre has called on the Government to go ahead with the June 21 re-opening.
NE1 Ltd, which represents around 1,400 companies in the city centre, said the Government would have to provide support to affected firms if the date has to be pushed back.
The group’s intervention has come as a number of prominent scientists have called for a pause on the Government’s roadmap to lifting restrictions, while it is seen how transmissible the new delta variant is.
NE1 said that lifting the final part of the pandmic restrictions made sense as rising transmission rates in some parts of the country hadn’t caused huge rises in numbers of people going into hospital.
While shops, bars and restaurants have been able to serve people since earlier easing of restrictions in April and May, the remaining limitations have made it difficult for many firms to trade profitably.
Stephen Patterson, director of communications at NE1, said: “The most important question for Government, businesses and us all right now, is what does living with the virus look like in a post-vaccine world, and what will be the new benchmarks for decision making?
“Lockdown, financial support, and grants are not sustainable and were only meant to bridge the gap until we had the vaccine. We now have the vaccine and the vast majority of those susceptible to Covid have been vaccinated.
“While these decisions need to be debated, businesses are still struggling especially those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Restricted opening and social distancing mean many businesses have yet to reopen while others are trading at 30-40% down against pre-pandemic levels of trade with mounting debts.
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“We need the Government to press ahead with the June 21 deadline whilst stepping up the vaccination programme especially in Covid hot spots. If the Government finds it is unable to remove controls it will have to be prepared for a further round of support grants, to extend furlough, business rates relief and the VAT holiday because without these many viable businesses will not survive.”
Though many previous restrictions have been lifted for retail and hospitality businesses, limits on the numbers of people who can gather indoors make it difficult for nightclubs, music venues and wedding venues to operate.
The Government is yet to commit to whether it will stick to the pandemic roadmap and lift restrictions on June 21. At the end of last week, Downing Street indicated that Prime Minister Boris Johnson saw nothing in current data to suggest the current plan would need to be delayed, but conceded Ministers “may need to wait” for more information.
A number of prominent scientists have argued for a slight delay, saying that would be better than having to go into another national lockdown if numbers rise again.