Covid disaster!!

[Leongsam]

Motelier calls for more Government support after losing home and retirement business from Covid-19​

Tina Law05:00, Sep 09 2021

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CHRIS SKELTON
Rod Gray owns the Fyffe on Riccarton motel. Forced to sell his retirement business and family home after losing thousands of dollars a week, he is calling on the Government to provide more assistance to businesses.
Rod Gray has sold his family home, his rental and his retirement business just to keep his motel running amid the fallout from Covid-19.
The Christchurch motelier and others across the country are calling on the Government to provide more support to the struggling sector.
Gray, who has owned Fyffe on Riccarton for six years, said he lost about $50,000 in revenue during August – and that was on top of a $240,000 drop last year due to Covid-19 lockdowns, border closures and travel restrictions.
August and September were lining up to be bumper months with a good level of bookings, but Gray said most have now been cancelled, with few new ones.
READ MORE:
* Government looking at whether further Covid-19 support for business is needed
* Wage subsidy news 'positive' for businesses
* Call for more support for businesses that have to shut in Covid-19 level 3
* Prosper Small Business Resilience Survey shows the wage subsidy was well-received

“If Auckland can’t travel, level 2 is not much better for me than level 3.”
Last month the 16-room motel ended up with just $3190 of bookings. Gray had been expecting it to be $55,000.
Rent and rates alone cost $16,000 each month.
He has sold his family home, his last rental property and a mini storage company intended to provide an income in retirement. Some of the money was used to pay off loans and cut outgoings.

CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
Gray has been forced to sell his home, his retirement business and make staff redundant to keep his business afloat.
Gray also had to make his managers redundant earlier this year, moving into the motel so he could manage it himself to save money.
His wife and two teenage children have been living with relatives since April.
Gray said he was in a much better situation than others in the industry because he and his wife also own property management company Christchurch Rentals Ltd, which provides them with a buffer. But many others did not have that.
The business is getting the wage subsidy, which pays the cleaners’ wages, but Gray said it did not help him pay the bills.
Supporting businesses through the wage subsidy was pointless if businesses were not supported too, Gray said.
Staff would be made redundant, regardless of the wage subsidy, if businesses were not able to survive.

CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
Gray is losing thousands of dollars a week from his motel business, and wants more help from the Government.
He has received a one-off resurgence support payment of $2700, but that did not even cover a week’s rent, let alone power, rates, Sky and insurance.
Gray wants the Government to make that payment a weekly one, rather than a one-off.
“That would be a sensible thing to do. It would give people a chance. You can’t keep talking about the team of five million when you’re letting businesses go to the wall through no fault of their own.”
He also wants the Government not to charge businesses GST for a couple of months, and would welcome free rates for a period of time.

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Peter Morrison, president of the Canterbury branch of Hospitality New Zealand, is supporting Gray’s call for more Government support as more and more hospitality businesses shut their doors.
“Last year many got into trouble because of Covid. They have not had a decent summer, and they’ve had an average winter and have come back into this with no savings.
“We’re going to end up with so many closures of motels and bars and restaurants.”

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Finance minister Grant Robertson said the Government was continuously monitoring and updating its support for business, and that the wage subsidy was still available to businesses operating in alert level 2.
“The financial supports are intended to help business and workers through this outbreak, as they did in previous outbreaks.”
He acknowledged it was hard for many businesses.
As for Gray, he was expecting the next two years to be difficult – and said he would try to hang on until the local sector was given a much-needed boost from the opening of the Metro Sports Centre, the Convention Centre and the stadium.

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[Leongsam]

Covid-19: Cafe chain shuts 24 stores early after 'disastrous' first day under level 2​

Sophie Cornish09:17, Sep 09 2021

Jericho Rock-Archer/Stuff
Mojo Coffee chief executive Pierre van Heerden said the first day of trading under Delta level 2 was 'really disastrous' and all cafés closed early. He hopes the Government will encourage its workers to head back to the office soon.

The owner of 24 cafés in Wellington is hoping for more foot traffic and the return of office workers soon after a “really disastrous” first day under alert level 2.
With schools reopening on Thursday, parents may return to the office, which Mojo Coffee chief executive Pierre van Heerden said could be the much-needed boost central city hospitality venues need.
He also hopes the Government will encourage its workers to head back into the office soon, after parts of the central city looked like a “ghost town” on the first day of level 2, which he described as “level three with a few bells and whistles on it.”
“We were ready for people coming back to the office today. We expected it to be a bit slow, based on previous lockdowns, but it was really disastrous from a trading perspective,” van Heerden said on Wednesday.

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Breakfast
While the shift in Covid alert levels for most of the country will be welcomed, restrictions are still in place.
READ MORE:
* 'Quite simply, we can't do much at level 2': quandary for Nelson venues
* Covid-19: Slow start to level 2 for some retailers, but shoppers happy to get out
* Covid-19 outbreak situation report: What happened today, September 8

All Mojo cafés closed early, and some staff members were sent home before closing.
Most locations traded between 10 and 25 per cent of what they were trading before lockdown, van Heerden said.
“We would normally jump back to about 50 per cent and then very quickly up to 75 and build back up, because it's always the first few days that are looking a bit slower, and we expected that, but not for things to be totally dead,” he said.

Jericho Rock-Archer/Stuff
Pegasus Books, located in Cuba Mall, was considerably quieter than usual, owner John Hoskins said. Traffic had slowly picked up throughout the day.
Mojo’s Bowen St café, which usually has hundreds of customers in and out during the lunchtime rush, had only four customers sitting in for lunch on Wednesday.
Despite the rain, foot traffic on Cuba St picked up in the afternoon, after a slow start in the morning.
Pegasus Books owner John Hoskins said the store had been considerably quieter than usual.
“I think people are still adjusting to change,” he said.
Hamish Garrick, owner of Night ‘n Day Cuba St, said there was a “wee lift” in customers, which had slowly picked up over the day.

MONIQUE FORD/Stuff
Mollie Tulloch of Lido café served Sarah Young her first breakfast out under alert level 2.
Thomasin Bollinger, owner of Iko Iko gift shop, was pleased to be open again and the store had been busier than anticipated.
IT worker Sarah Young had worked from home throughout lockdown and is now hoping to eat out every day this week in order to support local businesses.
“You just feel really bad for hospo,” she said. “I can’t do much, but I can go out and spend some money.
“If you're in a position where you can, I think yeah, the best thing you can do is go support local and small businesses,” she said.

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[sweetiepie]

Covid disaster ? My uncle think the real disaster are those sinkies 70s and above who have worked hard and leetired KNN of them my uncle know already locked themselves up in the pigeon hole fearing the outside world and all of them have a few millions in bank accounts and cpf KNN

 

[kaninabuchaojibye]

Covid disaster ? My uncle think the real disaster are those sinkies 70s and above who have worked hard and leetired KNN of them my uncle know already locked themselves up in the pigeon hole fearing the outside world and all of them have a few millions in bank accounts and cpf KNN

haaaa
liddat pinkie & ching how?
they so much money hide where?

 

[sweetiepie]

haaaa
liddat pinkie & ching how?
they so much money hide where?

Ah ho and loong loong should have a taste of their own sin unfortunatelee they are well shielded from the world KNN my uncle believes they used a substantial amount of their money to hire shields eg serfs to disinfect their desk beds TV etc and before they leave home every little aspects are being scrutinised until 1 fly want to bite them also hard KNN

 

[kaninabuchaojibye]

Ah ho and loong loong should have a taste of their own sin unfortunatelee they are well shielded from the world KNN my uncle believes they used a substantial amount of their money to hire shields eg serfs to disinfect their desk beds TV etc and before they leave home every little aspects are being scrutinised until 1 fly want to bite them also hard KNN

the pap politicians so far damn lucky or maybe as u said well shielded. none of them have tio covid yet. other countries, politicians also tio and some died.
pap politicians majiam got invisible shield protecting them
haaaa

 

[Leongsam]

I love the lockdowns but my poor friends in hospitality and travel are getting desperate. Some are suicidal.

 

[Leongsam]

I'll help out my friends but I most certainly won't be donating to any fund run by some bureaucratic or political entity.

 

[syed putra]

Some countries have capital gains tax that maybe used for the purpose of boosting the economy. I think in the US its 15%.
But in sinkie and most Asean countries, it's zero as they try to encourage foreign investments.

 

[sweetiepie]

I'll help out my friends but I most certainly won't be donating to any fund run by some bureaucratic or political entity.

KNN got some goodwill shua lui to give samster ? KNN

 

[laksaboy]

I love the lockdowns but my poor friends in hospitality and travel are getting desperate. Some are suicidal.

That's the whole idea: the Great Reset. Destroy the middle class and the entrepreneur folks.
Another euphemism for this: the fourth industrial revolution.

 

[syed putra]

That's the whole idea: the Great Reset. Destroy the middle class and the entrepreneur folks.
Another euphemism for this: the fourth industrial revolution.

Very interesting. It was the middle class that supported the industries. Wiping them out will be like destroying the entire economic structure it was based on.