Thursday 26 November 2020

London Chamber of Commerce and Industry respond to the Government confirming that London will be a Tier 2 area once lockdown ends.

Richard Burge, Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said:

“We are approaching a special time of year for the capital, and I hope that we can all safely balance the rules of Tier 2, enjoy the city, whilst boosting its economy.

“It’s obviously better to be able to trade than not, but Tier 2 still means a challenging operating environment for many in the hospitality sector. Scrapping the 10pm curfew helps, but no household mixing indoors will inevitably mean many businesses continue to rely on government support through this period. I’m pleased there will be a December 16 review date, which hopefully shows that we continue to move in the right direction and supports a further easing of restrictions.

“Transport for London are working hard to demonstrate the cleanliness standards of their stock. I hope to see this complemented over the coming weeks by visible enforcement of facemask compliance on the network. It can’t be stated enough how key this is to rebuilding public confidence and it’s particularly important to safely boosting central London footfall and business recovery.

“Consumer confidence, and indeed the nation’s chances of managing the R rate until a vaccine is ready, also hinges on Test and Trace. We need the world class system that we were promised, where is it? The Prime Minister’s strategy cannot simply be to wait for the vaccine ‘cavalry’ to arrive.”