Loch Lomond, as seen from the seaplane in 2019.Scores of national park businesses may not open in 2021 if Covid-19 restrictions remain until September, a survey has revealed.
And the vast majority of small rural firms in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs said takings were more than 80% down.
The survey, carried out by the national park’s community partnership during the first few weeks of the lockdown period, gathered insights from 170 small businesses operating in the 20 community council areas in the park.
It follows warnings by conservation charity the Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs that a prolonged lockdown could see at least £200m wiped off the value of tourism in the national park this year, with the potential loss of a quarter of tourism businesses and over 1,200 redundancies.
The community partnership survey focused particularly on smaller businesses and sole traders operating in premises or with businesses which are not business rated as the numbers they impact are too small and are, therefore, paying council tax.
National park authority chief executive Gordon Watson said: “The business community of the national park, and tourism in particular, makes a major contribution to the national economy at around £418m and around 7,000 jobs.
“Supporting the rural economy is a fundamental part of the national park authority’s role and we are committed to helping local businesses and communities through this exceptionally challenging time.
“Key to that is working with them to gather accurate information about how the pandemic is affecting these communities, businesses and where they most need support.
“This survey complements those carried out nationally, by particularly drawing out the impact on these smaller, rural businesses that may not otherwise have engaged with those wider information gathering exercises and therefore might not have their voices and concerns heard.
“Through our tourism team and the community partnership we are working closely with communities to share up to date information and help access vital support as well as sharing the valuable information we are hearing from them with other partner organisations to inform the support they can provide.”
The survey found that of the 170 businesses who responded:
- Over 85% reported they are more than 80% down
- The businesses were responsible for 650 jobs and the anticipated job loss was 292 (-45%) by the end of June
- 50% said if restrictions to trade continued after September they were uncertain if their business would reopen in 2021
- 80% thought they would spring to life immediately if restrictions were lifted in July
- 25% of respondents were unaware of what business support was available
- 53% were unsure or did not understand what was on offer or how to engage and claim
Tim Tindle, chair of the community partnership, said: “In many instances these businesses are the cornerstone of our communities but what has come through clearly from this survey is that many of them are not actively engaging with, not able to or are unaware of how to access support that’s available nationally.
“We’re working with the national park authority to address these issues by further highlighting these concerns to the relevant organisations and to provide more detailed information and signpost business to support.
“The response from the business community has been really useful and we plan to run this survey again to gather further insight into how the lockdown period has further impacted as it has gone on.
“I’d encourage as many local businesses, particularly those smaller, individual businesses to take part so we can represent their voices and concerns as best we can.”
A new information for businesses page has been created on the national park’s website to provide up to date information and links to support.
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