The COVID-19 pandemic has had some devastating consequences on public health but what are the ramifications on our local traders?
I've spoken with several islanders who have been kind enough to share their experiences about running a small local business in a time of global crisis. It's my hope this article will encourage people to shop local and support each other as a strong and proud community.
Paddy Beatt of IOW Stock Traders
Paddy set up his business with his wife in October 2019. He visits pubs, clubs, restaurants etc. to value stock and produce audited reports on profitability for businesses. It enables the Licensee to better understand business trends and profit margins etc. 'I have been involved with this line of work for 40 odd years now. Up to March 2020 it was all going well, business building steadily. Then from 24th March until the end of June 2020, nothing. We've had no work while lockdowns have been in place. Unfortunately, because we had no filed accounts as a new company etc. we fell between the gaps in all the help on offer. I did manage to get a small grant through Economic Development Dept. at the Island County Council which was very helpful and gratefully received. For the most part of 2020, I was not paying myself a salary. I have not been able to furlough myself either so it’s been a bit tricky to put it mildly. Ultimately, the first 18 months of trading have certainly not been ideal or as planned but I believe I do still have a viable business once we re-open. We need a solid plan from government to reopen in a sustainable fashion. Going in and out of lockdown is very disruptive to all businesses but especially a trade stocking highly perishable products such as the Licensed Trade.'
Website: http://iowstocktakers.co.uk
Samantha Butt of Island Sweet Dreams
‘I own a business called Island Sweet Dreams. We specialise in all things sweet for events and weddings. We also provide a decorative service. With all events/weddings cancelled my business has essentially been wiped out. I have had to refund a lot of people so lost a lot of money that way. I've had some weddings that were paid for in 2018 that were due to go ahead in 2020 but then postponed until 2021 and now again until 2022. That’s 4 years in the making. The cost of stock has gone up too but I can’t charge the customer more as prices are competitive. I still have outgoings like insurance etc.. Nobody is sure when the industry will magically reopen. It’s been tough.’
Website: https://www.islandsweetdreams.com
The social care sector has also taken a hit. Daisy Tucker of 'Daisy's Ducklings' stated: 'I’m a self employed Ofsted registered childminder. I care for children aged 0-11. Obviously, my business has been impacted greatly by the pandemic. In the first lockdown I had all but 1 keyworker child, which meant I had little to no income. I opened again in August and due to my husband being extremely vulnerable, he had to move out as it wasn’t safe for him to be around the children so it’s affected our family too.' Similarly, Lisa Lyness runs a care at home service for the elderly and vulnerable adults. She talked of the impact on the residents themselves, how the lack of visitors and outings has affected mental health. ‘We are a small family run care at home business called Snowdrops and Rosemary, with 12 care staff. We give you the support you need to remain safe and independent in the comfort of your own home. Whether its visits that are little and often to help with household chores or more complex support for complex conditions/hospital aftercare. The elderly at home have mostly been forgotten and the team have worked so hard to make a positive difference to their day. Gone are family visits and trips out with staff. Now the only people they see are the wonderful team. It's definitely affected them but the staff have worked so hard to keep things as normal as they can.’
One island resident, Suzie Barber, described what it was like to open a new store right on the cusp of the first lockdown. 'It was always my dream to take my business into a shop. It's called The Arty Crafty Party Shop. I had the keys to my new shop for 4 days before the first lockdown. I just had time to get the furniture in and some stock. When I was able to open in June, it was very slow and I was up against the summer weather as well. When having parties in the shop, I can have up to 12 children but due to restrictions I was having to limit it to 3 children. I was just covering the rent and bills. I'm also up against other craft shops which have been open longer. Due to closing the shop in November, I lost 6 party bookings and only 2 re-booked for December. Either people were too worried to come out or just didn't have the money to spend. I try to look forward to when I can re-open but I know people will still be weary and will stay away. The shop is looking at its 1 year birthday and I can't do anything for it. It never had its grand opening like I was hoping. I can't pay for advertisement really either as it costs the earth. It's definitely not how I pictured my dream.'
Website: http://artycraftyparty.com
A local island gem is The Salix Café, situated on Small Hope Beach. Mari Griffiths owns the establishment and kindly shared her story. 'We are a small beach side café, dependent on good weather and tourism throughout the year. Last year we worked really hard through winter, we were looking forward to March and the coming sunshine. We were shut down by the first lockdown. After stocking up ready for the coming season, it was a real worry how we would pay the wholesalers while we watched the use by dates on all the stock expire. Furlough was only available to staff on a wage so a few of our seasonal staff couldn’t get it which was really sad. At the end of the summer, we had the option to open with the ‘help out to eat out’ scheme but we decided not to, with our families safety being a priority. With furlough ending, we decided to open on the 22nd October for half term. We opened for 11 days only to go into lockdown 2.0! We had restocked for what we thought would be a quiet winter. The café also ended up without electricity for 13 days due to a fault and we lost all our frozen stock. We decided to leave it for the winter, unable to afford more stock. The next few grants/furlough payments enabled us to pay the ongoing insurance and utility bills required to keep our heads above water. We'll have been shut for a whole year come March 21st. It has been a long hard year, although part of me has enjoyed the time off in an industry where you put your heart and soul into serving the public, we can’t wait to be open again.'
Website: https://thesalixcafe.co.uk
While it seems many have had a difficult time staying afloat, one local tradesman has had his business unexpectedly take off. Matt Wickham runs a printing business in the hobby/supplies sector. He specialises in converters for model railways. Matt had only been operational for about 5 months before lockdown hit in March 2020. ‘Lockdown caused orders to double if not triple. This allowed for increased production as the new income enabled me to purchase new equipment. I put the increase down to people having more time for hobbies or allowing those with small businesses to spend more time on things they enjoy.'
I'd like to thank everybody that spoke with me, your stories have been inspiring and have shown that even in the face of adversity, we can come out the other side. We all anticipate a time that resembles normality, I certainly miss the simple things like seeing friends and family or sitting in a café with a coffee looking out onto the town. When we're able, I would strongly encourage people to shop from local businesses where possible, they need our support. #shoplocal
-Megan x
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