By Hanna Leppanen
The coronavirus has now become a serious global health concern, but it’s also doing damage to the economy and smaller businesses.
China is the world’s largest exporter of goods, but now the factories have paused their operations to try to stop the spread of the virus. In the UK the disruption is affecting not only the large, international, companies but also the local shops in Holloway.
The number of infections is increasing around the world every day, which is why some people are choosing to avoid crowded places where they might be exposed to the virus, like going shopping. This has led to more businesses starting to sell products online where people can order them without having to leave the safety of their homes.
“Our shop is very quiet now compared to last week and to be honest if this keeps going, I don’t know what will happen to the business. We don’t sell most of our items and fresh foods are not selling at all,” says Vajay Kntheaya, who works in Londis next to London Metropolitan University.
“The situation is so bad that I have considered to start selling items with Uber Eats because I think it would make a difference.”
Fall in customer demand
This might be a solution for some businesses. However, many restaurants, hotels, flight companies and smaller local companies have reported a fall in customer demand. Many countries have introduced travel restrictions, and people are cancelling business trips and holidays.
Even though most of the economy is declining; some businesses are thriving. There has been a boost in sales for Dettol and Lysol products, which are seen as protecting against the spread of the virus, although it has not been scientifically proven.
“I think our sales has gone up a lot but it’s purely because of the hand sanitizers and other products related to this. But the problem is with the online retailers who are putting the prizes up.
“We used to buy things for £1.25but now they are asking for £6 and we just can’t afford it. Because we can’t afford the online prizes, we are exchanging stock with other local businesses,” says Kadir Amal, who runs a cornershop on Holloway Road.
Six million off work
The Government has warned that more than six million people in the UK could end up off work because of the virus, which means that smaller businesses might get in trouble with not having enough workers and paying the sick leave.
“People are very scared and this is getting out of hand. Everybody just wants to isolate and we had some employees who haven’t come to work because of the virus,” says Misrab Eren who is keeping a corner shop next to the Union Chapel.
“We don’t have a lot of people working so it’s a big issue to our business and now the rest of us need to do extra-long days because of this,” he says.
Leave a Reply