FSB: Unsustainable to discourage customers without helping firms

Press Releases 10 Dec 2021

FSB on FM's statement

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this afternoon urged workers in Scotland to defer Christmas parties and raised the prospect of renewed Covid restrictions being placed on businesses and people. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Scotland said that new public health restrictions cannot come without support for operators.

Andrew McRae, FSB’s Scotland policy chair, said: “Today’s statement will send shockwaves through Scotland’s small business community. Local restaurants and pubs will bear the brunt of the damage from the message that people should cancel Christmas parties. But there will be a knock-on impact on operators like hairdressers and local shops as people in Scotland think twice before heading out.   

“Local firms are more vulnerable now than they were at the start of the crisis because many have exhausted their cash reserves and others are weighed down with debt. It is unsustainable for policymakers to put smaller businesses in a vice by discouraging their customers while not offering them any financial help.”