Mansfield and Ashfield businesses 'staying positive' after third national lockdown announced

Boris Johnson announced on Monday that England would be going into a third lockdown.

Sutton businesswoman Lesley Armson, who runs Flowers by Lesley on Outram Street, said she is “staying positive”.

Lesley, who has run the business for 30 years said: "We need people to know we’re still here, taking orders, we’re probably one of the last few businesses left on this street. It is like Shutter-Ville, but at least parking is easier!

"We order flowers from Holland and in lockdown they take longer to come, we have to be more cautious about ordering. In displays we’re going for things like carnations and lilies that last longer.

“All in all, we are very busy. The lockdown will probably go through our busiest times like Valentine’s Day and Mothering Sunday, so we have hope that the business will be OK.

“Sadly in the last lockdown we saw more funeral work. You have got to have flowers for things like that and people have ordered more flowers for gifts. I’d ask people to support local businesses. People can still ring us!”

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John Sankey, of Sankey Estate Agents, Albert Street, Mansfield, said: "I've been in business for many, many years now and this one has certainly been a rather remarkable one.

"We’ve been fortunate to stay open to help people buy and sell properties. There are negatives about the lockdown but we also have to keep saying loudly that we need to look at the good sides, businesses can come out of this strongly."

James Boler, of JRB Accountancy, Mansfield, said: "People are doing what they can but businesses need more clarity and better decision making. At the moment, businesses are being told one thing and then another with little or no time to adapt.

"There are still questions about support package and groups of directors left behind. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when furlough schemes end."

CEO at Mansfield Business Improvement District Nikki Rolls said: "This isn't the start to the new year we would have wanted, but a lockdown was inevitable given the rising infection rates.

"Businesses are resilient, the government has introduced support packages, and the BID is there to support town centre businesses.”

Amanda Squires, who runs nursery settings in Oak Tree and at Sherwood East, Forest Town, added: "I’m astounded the government doesn't recognise properly the work of early years providers.

"We haven't had additional financial support, we are not prioritised in terms of testing and vaccinations and yet expected to carry on as normal."

Co-director at Buckley Brown, in Mansfield town centre, estate agents Jon Brown said: “It’s excellent news that the housing market has remained open, as this ensures that clients are able to capitalise on the stamp duty holiday that is currently in place.

"The market is certainly buoyant, we foresee it remaining busy moving forward because of the shortage in properties, in comparison to the number of buyers.

"We're pleased that we are able to continue to help people buy and sell properties, we have in fact, since the start of the first lockdown, recruited an additional nine people to our team as our business has grown."

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