Monmouthshire traders 'punished for not being in lockdown’

With 10 coronavirus cases in the last week compared to 41 in Newport, 36 in Caerphilly, 31 in Blaenau Gwent and 23 in Torfaen, Monmouthshire is now the only place in Gwent not in lockdown.

As a result, traders in the county are not currently eligible to receive any of the £60 million funding announced last week by the Welsh Government for businesses in areas under lockdown restrictions.

However, due to the surrounding lockdowns banning people from travelling out of the areas they live in, traders in Monmouthshire - particularly those close to the borders with Newport, Torfaen and Blaeanu Gwent - have said they have seen huge drops in sales, but with no assistance.

Jo Nicholson, who owns Cwtch Café on Cross Street in Abergavenny, says she has seen a 50 per cent fall in sales since Torfaen went into lockdown on Monday.

Jo Nicholson

“It was a very upsetting day on Monday,” she said. “I had a lot of customers coming in for ‘one last coffee’.”

Thanks to some luck with the weather and a council initiative to enable businesses to expand outside [with government funding], Abergavenny has been positively booming this summer, but Ms Nicholson says that has come crashing to a halt.

Abergavenny had been busy

“We were booming up to Monday, now it’s dire and has been since Tuesday morning,” she added. “I’m sending staff home because I just don’t need them here. It’s not nice at all.

“If it carries on like this I really worry about my future here.”

It’s a situation keenly felt in Magor too, where barber Andrew Davies – who only opened his shop in August – says he’s lost at least 30 per cent of his customers since Newport went into lockdown.

Andrew Davies

“Business has dropped significantly in the last three weeks,” he said. “I had a lot of customers coming from Blackwood – where I used to have a shop. They’ve followed me here.

“We have people coming from Llanwern and Redwick too, but they can’t come any more.

“I’ve had very little support from the government to get this business off the ground, and it would be nice to just have some good news from them now.

“It feels like everything is working against me at the moment. The uncertainty around the situation is considerable.

“I have a budget to last me until into the new year, after that who knows. We need support soon.”

In Caldicot, the leader of the Town Team Aaron Reeks is organising a campaign called ‘Fiver Fest’ in an attempt to provide a much-needed boost to the town’s independents.

Aaron Reeks

Hit with the news of Waitrose’s pending closure, it is a particularly challenging time for traders there.

“We are being penalised for getting things right and obeying the rules,” he said. “I walked through Caldicot today [Saturday] and counted the number of people on the high street on one hand.

“We had to abandon the market this weekend because we knew there’d be very few visitors. At least half of them would usually come from Newport."

Fiver Fest is an event where, between October 10 and 24, traders can make £5 offers on some products to get people shopping locally.

Councillor for Caldicot Castle Jo Watkins says while she thinks Fiver Fest is a good idea, the Welsh Government needs to “sit up and take notice” of what is happening in Monmouthshire’s towns and villages, and across other areas not in lockdown.

Caldicot Market, which had to be abandoned this weekend

“This last two weeks have been particularly tough for traders here,” she said. “We have worked so hard to keep Monmouthshire Covid free, yet we are now being punished.

“Our businesses are being impacted in exactly the same way as those in Newport. You can’t ignore a whole county.”

Monmouthshire council has made a formal request to the government for equal funding.

Currently the plan is for grants to only be available for businesses in a region which has been in lockdown for three weeks or more and who have experienced a drop in 40 per cent turnover.

Cllr Bob Greenland, deputy leader of Monmouthshire council, said: “While we are not in local lockdown, we are already hearing that owners of holiday accommodation in the county are receiving requests for cancellations and refunds.

"People are wanting their money back, rather than accepting a new booking or credit note, which has an immediate effect on these businesses’ revenue.

"Meanwhile, we are anticipating that some of our towns, if not already, then soon, will be experiencing a reduced footfall due to the travel restrictions our neighbouring local authorities have in place.

"In light of this, we will be making representations to Welsh Government to consider widening the reach of this fund to reflect this.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Our £1.7 billion business support package means companies in Wales have access to the most generous support package in the UK. This includes our £500 million Economic Resilience Fund which has been absolutely crucial in supporting businesses throughout Wales in dealing with the economic challenges of the coronavirus. So far it has helped protect the livelihoods of more than 100,000 people.

“The next phase of the fund, worth £140 million, will us to secure more jobs and enable businesses to continue to develop and grow in these challenging times, including those affected by local lockdowns.

“We are doing all we can, but our budget will only go so far. That is why businesses need the UK Government to step-up and provide the further financial support to recover from the wide reaching impacts of the pandemic.”