By Lola Miller
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The already severe impact of COVID-19 upon the economy of Greater Manchester is projected to worsen as of today’s announcements regarding the return to a Tiered system. The national lockdown in the UK is expected to end on the 2nd of December and will re-enter a region-specific tiered system of restrictions and regulations. Manchester had been placed in Tier 3 on the 23rd of October, before the implementation of the nationwide lockdown, and will return to this position in December.
Boris Johnson’s government has been criticised, particularly by local governing bodies in Manchester, for the impacts such restrictions have had upon businesses in the area. Leader of the opposition Keir Starmer tweeted: “The Government’s treatment of the North West has been a disgrace. It is treating millions of people with contempt”.
Greater Manchester as a region has been disproportionately affected by both the outbreak of COVID-19 itself and the subsequent measures to contain the virus. The latest NHS figures show that across the region, 3,220 people in hospitals have died within 28 days of contracting COVID. These high cases resulted in moving into the strictest tier, however, these restrictions hit local businesses and individuals particularly hard.
Within the UK, the nightlife and hospitality sector has been dealt a universal blow, which is of specific import within Greater Manchester, where 18% of jobs are in ‘shut down’ sectors: which is higher than any other UK region. This is reported within a recently released recovery plan for the nightlife sector in Manchester, collated and presented by Mayor Andy Burnham, and Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester’s Nighttime Economy Advisor. The report found that ⅔ of night-time economy businesses expected to make redundancies within the next year, including 80% of restaurants. It is unsurprising that the regulations can so detriment the local economy in a city wherein so many are usually employed by this sector.
The plans within the ‘Greater Manchester Night Time Economy COVID-19 Recovery Blueprint’ include advocacy, continued campaigns for further financial packages and legislative support, including sector-wide furlough extension. One suggestion presented is that venues usually functioning within the nightlife sector, such as clubs, could rent out their space; the location of many of these venues providing “the opportunity for these operators and businesses to utilise their currently redundant space”.
Plans to support local businesses further include ‘diversifying’ – adapting so that they are not dependent upon an active nightlife. The Recovery Blueprint was introduced last week, projecting that it would take five years for the Manchester nightlife to return to its pre-COVID levels. This prediction, however, was made before the government’s announcement regarding a return to ever more stringent restrictions after lockdown.
The new tier system contains some crucial adjustments. In the previous Tier, 3, pubs and restaurants serving substantial meals were allowed to remain open; in the new system, such venues can only offer a takeaway service. Sacha Lord told The Independent that he is “almost certain that these latest measures will mean the end of the traditional British pub as we know it.” He goes on to report that one brewery expects 94% of pubs in Tier 3 areas to go under by spring, ascertaining that “we’ll now see many workers fall into poverty as a direct result of the announcements made today”.
Poverty in the region is already an eminent issue. The charity ‘Greater Together Manchester’ records that there are 5,564 people experiencing homelessness, whether living on the streets or in temporary accommodation. COVID-19 has been to the detriment of those already homeless, as the Greater Together Manchester Night Shelters no longer opening due to the “communal nature of the shelters” and the “high-risk status of the virus”.
The nature of the restrictions imposed therefore not only increases the likelihood of those working in the nightlife or hospitality sectors falling into poverty – and by extension homelessness – but has also reduced the resources available to those already living in poverty. Financial recovery in Greater Manchester, of individuals and hospitality sectors alike, will undoubtedly prove an uphill battle in the wake of coronavirus and the resulting restrictions.
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