The Deputy Mayor of Wellington, Cllr Nancy Powell-Brace, has issued a heartfelt appeal for more help to be given to our town’s small businesses.
The owner of Odette’s Tearoom in High Street has written an open letter – headed Where to do we go from here? – and here is the full text …
I am currently in the position of having to seriously consider closing my business. Not because of three years of Covid mayhem; no, we survived that very well. I drew a sigh of relief as we came through.
Of course the grants and subsidies we received were all, suddenly, taxed and we faced a mammoth tax bill. Nothing is really for free. You wouldn’t expect the current Government to hand out help and not get it back in some way, shape or form.
No, despite the £4,000 tax bill that suddenly dropped on my doorstep, I have been able to keep the business afloat and maintain my staff. But for how much longer?
This time around there is no help for small businesses. I meet fellow business owners on the streets and we all ask each other tentatively how things are going, and we all put on a brave face and say, ‘Well, you know, we are still here!’
But I can’t do that any longer. I can’t pretend we are managing because we are not. Simply everything has increased exponentially in price and there is no way that I can increase my prices to reflect this.
Four teacakes have gone from 80p to nearly £2. Butter has doubled in price (and no, I won’t use a substitute!). I can’t double the price of a teacake, no-one would consider paying £4 no matter how beautifully it is presented in lovely surroundings. And that is just one example.
Add to that the increase in energy costs – hot food from a cooker that is on nearly all day, the hot water boiler, the lights, the heating, and the figures become unmanageable.
So where do I (and so many like me) go from here? My little business has been a focal point of our town since it opened nearly eight years ago. We have survived rivals, both small and corporate, and we have made our mark. Many of my customers have said, quite simply, Odette’s Tearoom really IS at the heart of Wellington.
Yet, at this point in time, I don’t know if we will even be here until Christmas. I have the most amazing landlord who has supported me and helped me through the last three years, but what can he do. I am sure he can’t afford to suspend my rent until further notice.
What do my employees do? There are few enough jobs around at the moment and I have a huge responsibility to them as they try to find their way through the coming winter months.
And what about my apprentice – achieving distinctions in every aspect of his work with me. What happens to him if he cannot finish that apprenticeship because the placement has ended – the shop is gone – the business is bankrupt?
I am extraordinarily lucky in that I have other ways and means to earn money, I am blessed, and I know that. But it’s not quite the point.
The point is that our town is going to lose so many of its small, independent businesses because we are being let down so royally by our own Government. Don’t blame this on the war in Ukraine, don’t you dare. The rot had set in long before that and, while it has obviously exacerbated things, don’t try and pass the blame elsewhere.
My business survived the worst that Covid could throw at it. But I have to be pragmatic, realistic and resigned.
There really does not appear to BE anywhere to go from here …