Lincolnshire County Council reminds businesses that support is available throughout the Covid crisis

In her column, Sue Woolley, of Lincolnshire County Council, reminds businesses that support is available:

Understandably, much of our focus of the impacts of Covid-19 has been on the health aspects, but the economic implications are also now becoming clearer.

So many businesses have been faced with operating in a limited capacity, or have still not been able to re-open. It is inevitable then that the measures that were necessary to protect our health, will have had a knock-on effect for Lincolnshire companies.

The Government’s furlough scheme has helped thousands of people through the initial stages of the pandemic, supporting businesses to keep running but also meaning we can support our economy with our spending.

But as the job retention scheme comes to an end, it leaves some very difficult circumstances and decisions for both employers and individuals.

With that in mind, it is important for people who face very real economic difficulties to know that there is help and support available, and how they can access that.

Small and medium sized businesses can continue to get support from Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub advisers, who help to provide a diagnostic action plan. They can also signpost to specialists, who can advise on wider issues such as finance management, sales and marketing or supply chains.

For the Bourne area, the Growth Hub adviser is Gordon Stewart and he can be contacted through the Business Lincolnshire website enquiry form or e-mail: businesslincolnshire@lincolnshire.gov.uk

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) also offers added help in the form of webinars explaining the ‘no-cost’, confidential rapid response support available. These are also available on the Business Lincolnshire website.

The rapid response service is also available to employees through Jobcentre Plus. If you are worried about the security of your job, or have already been made redundant, this is one of the support options that will help you with things such as writing your CV, benefit advice, training and development options and finding a job.

You may be able to get support with costs like travel to work expenses.

Alternatively, perhaps you are considering starting your own business.

There are several programmes in Lincolnshire to help with that including through the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub website – www.businesslincolnshire.com , the Prince’s Trust ‘Better Off in Business’ programme for people aged between 18 and 30, the NBV ‘Starting in Business’ programme and the University of Lincoln’s ‘Growing Graduate Enterprise’ scheme for people that have graduated from any university within the last 3 years.

If you find yourself in particularly difficult times, please don’t hesitate to reach out to get the help you need before you hit a crisis point.

The Citizen’s Advice Service is always a good place to start, either online at www.citizensadvice.org.uk or by calling 0800 144 8 444.

Calls are free and lines are open 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday.

Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to ask for help, but Covid-19 has taken its toll on the county already and while we can’t stop the disease, we can try and lessen its impacts.