Published Monday 1 June 2020 at 10:08
Businesses in Blackburn with Darwen are facing unprecedented challenges during this crisis, and we are doing all we can to help get them through.
The Council’s Chief Executive Denise Park has a message to all firms pledging our support.
Hello. To all the businesses in Blackburn with Darwen, we would like to give you the biggest message of support possible.
The coronavirus crisis has hit everybody hard, and businesss have obviously had a massive blow after closures and restrictions were put in place
We know that this is more than hard – it is the most difficult situation we have seen for our local businesses in our lifetime.
We are doing everything we can to support you as much as possible. Once the Government business grants were announced, our finance teams have been working around the clock to help you get the help you need during this difficult time.We are hopeful about Blackburn with Darwen and their future despite the impacts of this terrible crisis which has hit globally.
Before the coronavirus crisis, we had been making strong progress following some tough years.
We were experiencing unprecedented levels of new housing and employment growth, parts of the borough are being substantially regenerated, with high performing businesses making their mark nationally and globally. We have some of the highest business start-up rates in the North of England – certainly outside the big cities. We are enterprising, resourceful, united and outward looking place – though Covid-19 will stretch our resilience we’re determined to come out this as strong as possible.
We can’t, and shouldn’t, underplay the seriousness of the economic impacts of the pandemic – we and other places are all vulnerable and no one knows the true impact or duration of the economic downturn we are now in.
In the immediate emergency response, we have helped to provide over 3,000 C19 grants to local businesses and we hope the Government’s intention to give us more discretionary funding to support other business sectors in need will help us to support many more in the coming weeks.
This has fallen somewhat short of what we need, and we are working with other local authorities to try and help this situation.
This support is on top of the wider package of national supports provided by Government. We are also working with our key networks like HIVE and the BID to see what more needs to be done to support the immediate economic emergency and recovery.
Our Ask the Experts sessions provide a great opportunity to share information and experiences and get help.
We will continue to champion Blackburn with Darwen with the Government and work with others such as the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership to make sure we can stabilise the economy as best we can.
We will continue to focus on the transition and recovery and do whatever we can to help you.