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The twin effects of the Covid pandemic and online shopping continue to
reshape the UK’s retail sector. And both of these in turn are having an adverse
impact on Main Street Gibraltar. No sooner had some of the lockdown
restrictions been lifted than some well-known retail brands announced that
they would close due to the demise of their UK principals: Top Shop, Dorothy
Perkins and Debenhams are the latest closures. Expect others in the months
ahead. The local branch of German franchise Bijou Brigitte also succumbed to
the pressures of the extended lockdown and pulled down its shutters early in
January. It was hardly an auspicious start to the new year.
On the positive side, Gibraltar is vying with Israel to be the country which has
vaccinated its population the fastest. Furthermore, in a sign of solidarity, and
to extend its own protection, Gibraltar is also offering vaccines to the 15,000
registered cross-frontier workers who live in Spain and come to work each day
on the Rock.
This huge collective effort should enable Gibraltar to be one of the first countries
to emerge from the lockdown. And herein lies the challenge of being small.
Our ability to move quickly has thankfuly prevented a worse Covid outcome in
Gibraltar. However, we will now be hampered by the delays experienced by our
trading partners which in turn will prolong the recovery for our own economy.
With foreign travel bans imposed across many EU countries there are no
flights. With no flights, the hotels are empty and the number of visitors coming
to Gibraltar whether for business or pleasure remain at an historic low. All the
businesses which depend on these visitors directly and indirectly continue to
suffer: the tour operators, taxi drivers, restaurants, retailers and wholesalers.
The interconnectedness of today’s business world means that what happens in
one sector will at some point have an effect on sectors elsewhere.
When the pandemic hit Gibraltar in mid-March last year, the Government was
quick to understand this point and acted quickly in responding to Chamber
requests for a package of measures to assist local businesses across many
different sectors. The principle aim was to inject capital into local businesses
so that they could continue to operate and preserve the jobs of their staff until
the pandemic had passed. At the time, nobody knew how long this would take
so the measures were introduced on a quarter by quarter basis and rolled over
at the end of each three month period.
Now the worst of the pandemic has passed and the vaccine roll-out nears
successful completion, local businesses still need assistance for a period whilst
they rebuild their businesses. The local population has been very supportive
in helping local establishments when they reopened, but this cannot replace
the volume of business provided by an annual season of millions of tourists.
Once more the Chamber has asked the Government to extend its support
measures for a further period of three months. It will not replace the business
which has been lost in the last twelve months, but it should help many local
firms to keep people employed whilst they try their best to rebuild their
businesses for the year ahead.