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Although the full extent of the financial impact Covid 19 has had on businesses is not fully known, in April to June 2020 the UK Economy GDP had shrunk by 19.8% since the start of the first lock down.
More specifically, a lot of us will have seen in the news that many businesses have gone bankrupt and closed during the pandemic.
Some of the most noticeable are some of the high street stores, to include: Debenhams; The Arcadia Group (Top shop, Burtons, etc); Oasis and Warehouse; and Cath Kidston.
In addition, an estimated 6,000 bars, restaurants and other licensed premises have closed.
This then saw thousands of people made redundant or become unemployed across the UK.
However, something that isn't shared as widely is that the travel and tourism industry has seen some of the biggest hits when compared to the same period the previous year. Some examples will follow. Greater London saw the biggest fall in room occupancy in all English regions, 70% decrease in July 2020 in comparison to July 2019. Overseas visitors made 96% fewer visits and spent 97% less in April to June 2020 in comparison to the same time in 2019 to the UK. The Eurotunnel saw a decrease of 91.3% in passenger vehicles travelled during April 2020 compared to April 2019.
Another area affected is business investments, seeing a fall of 17.3% in Jan to March 2021 compared to pre-pandemic October to December 2019.
I think that it would be interesting to see whether full measurements are shared on the true negative impact Covid 19 has had on businesses across the whole period of the pandemic, when we have come out of it. Along with the comparison to the businesses/sectors that have had a positive impact during this period.