The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Permission is being sought for a "business survival march" to draw attention to the plight of entrepreneurs who fear their firms "might not last beyond September" with the present COVID restrictions.

Mark A. Turnquest, the small business consultant who is organising a march that aims to attract 100 business owners, told Tribune Business yesterday that up to 75 percent of his clients and other entrepreneur contacts feel they cannot last for more than one month if lockdowns and restrictions remain in place.

Confirming that he had already applied to police commissioner Paul Rolle to stage the march on Friday, September 4, between Arawak Cay and Parliament Square and back again, Mr Turnquest said the level of "stress" many businesses - especially those deemed non-essential by the Government - are suffering had persuaded many to take part despite fears it would be seen as political.

To accompany the march, Mr Turnquest said those involved planned to present "a business recovery" document to the Government covering 10 industries once the event was over. Among its proposals is likely to be a suggestion for "alternate businesses to open on different days", meaning that certain sectors would only open three days per week to address fears of COVID-19 spread.

"It's 100 business owners who are going to get together to make a request to the Government and relevant authorities to put together a strategic plan to open up the country in relation to non-essential businesses in what I call a sensible medical and economic fashion," Mr Turnquest explained to this newspaper.

"I know there's an Economic Recovery Committee and sub-committees, but the problem is none of them at this moment are telling anyone about what they're going to in the short-term. They indicated September for their report, but 75 percent of my business associates, who are my clients or in business chat groups, might not last beyond September.

"A lot of them had already paid rent on August 1, and right now that rent has gone down the drain because they were not open and were closed from the first week in August. It's going on three weeks and they're making no money."

Mr Turnquest said that even his business clients who had sought to diversify into fast-food and take-away enterprises, in the belief such ventures would never be subject to COVID-19 lockdowns, had been forced to eat these costs once these sectors, too, were closed.

He added that many small businesses and entrepreneurs, who had invested heavily in COVID-19 health protocols to ensure they could re-open in June and July, "never planned for a closure like this in August".

Mr Turnquest said the proposal to have different industries open three days per week was an attempt to strike a balance between allowing companies to earn sufficient revenue to survive and the medical concerns associated with COVID-19. "The pandemic is not going anywhere," he added.

The small business consultant, in his August 20 letter to the police commissioner, said: "One Hundred business owners would like the approval to have a non-political, non-violent and controlled march on Friday, September 4, 2020."

Branding it the 242 Business Survival March, he added: "The mission of the march is to advocate the strategic and timely opening of non-essential businesses [in a way] that focuses on the alignment of medical and economic competing factors. A business recovery document representing over ten industries will be presented after the march.

"The duration of the march will be from 10am to 1pm commencing from Arawak Cay to Parliament Square and then concluding at Arawak Cay. The business owners will be professional and adhere to all COVID-19 protocols (six feet apart and face masks/shields)."

Mr Turnquest said he was now awaiting a response from Mr Rolle.