Workers that don’t have to go into an office are £480 billion better off.

I mainly stopped going into town to eat (or drink) on an evening when I passed 30. I will however (in normal times) go to the Elephant & Castle, Lundhill Tavern, Spencers Arm, Strafford Arms, Dearne Valley Park or any of the other foods pubs out of town. Or should I not be supporting these places and just go to into town. Going to town for a night out is the best part of £20 in taxis (both ways) before I even have a drink so generally end up driving instead so I wouldn't go (being tight and all).

I have had lunch in that place next to the library (Falco lounge?) and the Glasshouse but rarely go into town at all these days.

 

Fair enough but lots do and a lot of the economy relies on that at present .

 

I've this morning spent £15 including delivery on a sausage roll, pork pie, 2 cakes, a ham and cheese toastie and a prawn sandwich baguette. From a small local cafe.

What a tory.

 

Who’s said or hinted you’re a Tory ?

 

Been informed today that at least three independent cafes/takeaways have gone under this weekend

 

I'm really interested in what you want to see happen.

You are staunchly against home working. What would you like to see from the government? Require companies to have a desk for every employee? Force employees into an office?

 

In normal times, the annual failure rate of restaurants/food businesses is over 15% - three times the average for other types of business. They are the hardest market to be successful in within the UK.

 

I just can’t get my head around a blanket everybody has to work from home from now on tbh .
The Pit Closure Programme almost devastated our Town but it was done over a seven year period still devastating but at least a bit gradual but the consequences were there .
If the PM announced that everyone works from home as some are advocating then lives will be devastated .
Weve just seen what two months of complete lockdown have done to people so a mass exodus from our Town centres would result in mass suicides imo .
In the thread people have alluded to their own nightmare commutes and being defensive but nobody’s saying things haven't to change and some of these stupid rush hour commutes or forced commutes when they could do the work at home .
Things can change but a blanket of everyone works from home when some quiete clearly want to go into work .
Nobody’s hinting at everybody should carry on as normal but economy’s and local business cannot change over night or even a few years .
What evolves naturally over years is fair enough but just because we’ve had a pandemic that’s altered our lives and outlooks shouldn’t mean we drop everything and fek the economy or local businesses .
Drop the stupid 9-5 commutes to miles away destinations by all means if you can work from home but let’s not make it compulsory or even easy options for the owners to the detriment of workers .
Many workers will have a choice but many more won’t and will be exploited amongst the changes. As I’ve alluded to in previous posts .
All this is my view fair enough but I’ve witnessed the Steel Works closures , mine closures and office closures (SYCC) and it devastated the Town for long periods .

 

Probably should have extended the furlough scheme in some areas until the situation returns to one where they can reopen successfully. I have read that furlough is cheaper (for the gov) than UC when you include all the extras (housing, council tax, etc).

 

I've given nextdoor's brother, who's just started a gardening company, nearly £1000 during lockdown so far and he's done a great job of returfing the front and part of the back, cutting the hedges, cleaning out the greenhouse etc. plus regular maintenance (best money I've ever spent btw the neighbours have stopped playing loud music and seem to have completely switched the bass off on their tv since hiring him). Now that I'm home more often I've realised I'd quite like to be able to see out of the windows so I now pay £12.50 to a local window cleaner once a month too. That's all money that would normally have gone on train tickets and petrol.

 

You absolute Tory. Unbelievable.

 

Threads like this are sad. The Govt seeks deliberately to divide people to support the casino capitalists that support them. They have little or no regard for business in general and even less so for small businesses but they frame the debate as if they do and unfortunately on both sides we fall for it. Classic Dom

 

That's a business flourishing. My nephew and his mate have a gardening business and are fully booked for nearly the rest of the year. So many homes wanting decking put down to sit on and have BBQs or sheds turned in to a garden bar. Far more to it then just people wanting a bush or their grass cut or something painted.

 

the whole Furlough scheme has been handled poorly. It was the right idea mirroring long running schemes in other countries that do it to support unemployed people. It should have been more specifically targeted once lockdown ended and directly at small companies who are in vulnerable sectors.

The Eat our scheme was another scattergun idea. Should have been for SMEs only and for 2 months not one but excluding places like MCdees who hoover govt money whilst often destroying smaller businesses.

 

It’s not that simple though .
I agree about the casino capitalists that owns the buildings etc but the chance to elect a govts to do something worthwhile to counter it was spectacularly rounded upon by the media etc that people believed them
Unfortunately these capitalists have tape wormed themselves around our economies. Whereby councils depend On their tenants for buisness rates to function services for the town and the workers to keep economies circulating .
It’s not ideal but we need an alternative before we kill the beast that we’re relying on to live otherwise we’ll go down with it .

 

Tax incentives is one-way of encouraging it. It doesn't make it mandatory but gives the incentive. Another is to charge business rates for businesses based on how many rooms are being used for their business. Take an average home office space and multiply it by how many people they have working from home

I never said make it mandatory, I said that if too many companies enforce home working then it decimates other industries and is a huge barrier to poorer people getting the jobs.

 

The furlough scheme was a total balls up imo. Giving equal furlough incentive to a software developer who CHOSE to furlough staff as it did to a cafe who was banned from operating. And the decision not to extend it properly for those who are still banned from working at full capacity is atrocious

 

I know. These are not new businesses though, they're ones who have previously been successful but after being forced to close for months and now seeing a miniscule footfall are just not viable.

 

Trades are absolutely overwhelmed with work at the moment. But the recession hasn't hit yet.