Thursday November 5 should have seen the opening of the Christmas market on Birmingham’s main shopping thoroughfare. An unmissable event for Alan Poole. With his banter and smirk, he normally achieves half of his annual turnover in six weeks. Instead, the small trader met on Tuesday, who runs a stall in England’s second largest city, will stay at home. The country’s second lockdown went into effect Thursday, leading to the closure of all non-essential stores.
It has been forty-four years since Mr. Poole, 58, settled on this corner of the sidewalk. He began by selling flowers, before turning to tourist souvenirs, which he imports directly from China. “I’ve never had such a bad year”, he observes, cap pressed over his head. From late March to early July, the first confinement forced it to close. “It happened just before Mother’s Day, one of the most important days of the year. “ Then, the town hall refused to suspend its annual rent of 7,000 pounds (7,800 euros).
As the boss of his own small business, he couldn’t get short-time working, and just got 3,000 pounds from the state. “I live on my savings. I will certainly have to postpone my retirement. ” His reaction to this new blow of the club? ” I understand, he replies with a shrug. I have seen others. It is fate. “ Its stock of Birmingham-branded refrigerator magnets can wait a few weeks …
“This time, we know how to organize”
The UK economy is one of the most affected in the world by the Covid-19 pandemic. With this second “lockdown”, supposed to end on December 2, gross domestic product is expected to fall by around 3% in the fourth quarter, bringing the recession, for 2020, to – 11% or – 12%, according to forecasts by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. On Thursday, the Bank of England estimated that GDP would not return to its pre-Covid level until early 2022. It decided to almost double its intervention, with an asset buyback plan of an additional 150 billion pounds (166, 6 billion euros), in addition to the 200 billion announced in March.
And yet, Birmingham traders are showing surprising resilience. “This time, we know how to organize. We weren’t taken by surprise like the first time ”, explains Simone Annette, of the Franco Manca chain of pizzerias, at the other end of the shopping street. Take-away meals are still allowed. Two cooks and two members of the room staff will remain at their posts, while the other five employees will go on short-time work. The establishment has agreements with the major digital delivery platforms (Uber Eats and Deliveroo), and the website is up and running.
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