Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury businesses hail positive meeting with MP over coronavirus crisis

Business leaders in Shrewsbury have held an online meeting with their MP to discuss the support being offered to town centre businesses during the coronavirus crisis.

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Shrewsbury MP

Members of the Shrewsbury Business Improvement District board of directors held a conference call with Daniel Kawczynski MP on Friday, which they said was “very constructive”.

Nick Johnson, of Hokum hairdressing in Wyle Cop, and a Shrewsbury BID director, said Mr Kawczynski was keen to hear the concerns of Shrewsbury businesses and would relay them to government ministers.

“It was an excellent meeting, and we are going to be having regular conversations with our MP as we work through this crisis,” he said.

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“We discussed a variety of issues, but I think the main message we wanted to get across was that businesses need access to financial support as quickly as possible.

“The numerous support packages are very welcome, but many town centre businesses have a limited amount of leeway when it comes to cash flow, so to be able to continue to pay staff they need a cash injection urgently.

“We also talked about the importance of the government avoiding the temptation to suddenly reintroduce high levels of tax, such as business rates, when things get back to normal because most businesses just wouldn’t be able to cope.

“Mr Kawczynski listened to our concerns and said he would be in touch with the relevant ministers to make sure our voice was heard.”

Seb Slater, executive director of Shrewsbury BID, said it was a productive meeting.

“It was a positive conversation and I would like to thank Mr Kawczynski for his time,” he said.

“We intend to have further meetings over the coming weeks, so I would urge business owners to let us know what their specific concerns are so we can work with our local MP to lobby the government and help Shrewsbury come through the current Coronavirus crisis and thrive once again.”

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