Ashburton Courier: September 09, 2021

NEWS
6 Ashburton Courier, September 9, 2021
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
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Bob McDonald owner of Health 2000 Ashburton.
PHOTO DANIEL TOBIN
Business uncertainty
with covid restrictions
DANIEL.TOBIN
@ashburtoncourier.co.nz
The move to AlertLevel 2
has bought ameasure of
stability to local businesses,
but after weeks of beingin
Level4and 3someare still
on thebrink, business owner
Bob McDonald says.
Mr McDonald, ownerof
Health 2000, thought the
South Island had been
harshly treated withwhat he
calledunnecessarily high
alert levels.
‘‘We haven'thad acase
down here andhave had the
samerestrictions as
Auckland, we should have
gone to Level 3after thefirst
week, andweshould have
beeninLevel 2lastweek.
‘‘It is pretty shitty to be
fair, no­one makes money in
Level3it’s just really hard,
we’ve all beentold how bad
it is for the last monthso
people are quite nervous I
think.
‘‘Then thecouncil decide
to shut theroad down, that's
bloodyhandy,’’hesaid.
Mr McDonald feels for his
fellow business owners
particularly the hospitality
industry.
‘‘The hospitality guys are
the onesIamconcernedfor,
they have at least another
twoweeks,even Level 2is
really hard work for them, in
Level 2for us it pretty much
business as usual, there is
still contact tracing, but
people canget around.’’
CanterburyEmployers'
Chamber of Commerce
(CECC) chiefexecutive
Leeann Watson said
lockdownimpacted
businesses in different ways
depending on the sector.
‘‘Manybusinesses can
operate remotely, although
getting teams to operate
remotely has its fair share of
challenges, we’ve doneit
quite alot in the last decade
in Canterbury with the
various criseswehave faced,
so businesses are pretty
good at setting their team up
quickly andbeingagile.
‘‘We have to acknowledge
there are plentyof
businesses that can’twork
from homelike
manufacturing and
hospitality, they are the ones
who are most impacted
during lockdown,’’ Ms
Watson said.
TheCECCrun acovid
business help line which
hadreceived over 1200calls
this lockdown.
‘‘A lot of calls are around
whatcan we do at Alert
Level 3, who’s an essential
business etc.’’
Ms Watsonsaid itwasn't
necessarily lackof
informationthatprompted
calls from businessowners,
it was more they wantedto
talk to someoneabout their
particularsituation.
‘‘When people go into a
crisis youcan have allthe
informationout there, but
people want to pick up the
phone and speak to a
human.
‘‘Ithink that is avital role
thatweprovide.’’
As wellasthe helpline the
CECC runwebinar’s for
businesses,the firston
financialsupporthad 2220
peopleregisterwithin24
hours.
‘‘That gives you an
indication of the thirst for
knowledge around this.’’
The lightatthe end of the
tunnel is the hopethatthere
willbearepeatofthe
buying surge that happened
when the 2020lockdown
lifted.
‘‘Youget thatpent­up
demandwhere people
haven't been abletobuy
things, combinedwith the
strong push tobuy local,that
will offsetsome of the pain
of not being abletotrade.’’
The CECC covidhelpline
is 0800 5050 96.
2375521
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Knitters for good cause
Talented knitters fromPrinces Court
Lifecare have had knitting needles clicking
away as theyset about makingmore than
100 hats and mittenstogive to people and
families, through charityorganisationSt
VincentdePaul.
The knitters,who included residents,
staff andfamilymembers, recently handed
overtheir finished products to St Vinnie’s
manager Donna Collins.
PrincesCourt Lifecare manager Lorraine
Bryansaidthe knittinginitiative came from
Rae Willemse, oneofthe carers at Princes
Court, who thought it avery deserving
cause.
It had been takenupbymany staff,
residentsand their family members who
alsocontributedwithdonations of wooland
needles.
Mrs Collinssaid the items wouldgoto
familiesinneed.
‘‘We’reverythankful for such a
wonderful donation,” shesaid.
St Vincent de Paul manager Donna Collins,
from left, receives knitting from some of the
Princes Court Lifecare knitters Joanne
Whitnell, Susan Geipel and Ann­Marie
Cartman and facility manager Lorraine
Bryan.
PHOTO SUPPLIED