Hornsby Chamber local businesses share ‘life in lockdown’ at their breakfast with special guest Julian Leeser MP

We were grateful Mr Leeser and his office reached out to us so we could provide the invaluable opportunity for our local businesses to share their experiences, challenges, and feedback of ‘life in lockdown’ from a business perspective.

Key areas of conversation during the session included access and feedback to the Government local and federal grants, reductions in business during lock-down, home schooling while running a business, mental health, vaccination levels and discussions on the lockdown exit plan.

Businesses from our community noted that, in comparison to 2020 lockdown, this lockdown has created a larger downturn in business, with a wide range of differences from 30% – 97% reduction, and business owners are seeing much more uncertainty from their clients than previous times.

Some start-up businesses noted that they aren’t able to access grants due to only having records from the past 6-12 months, and there were concerns that the momentum gained when starting a new business is lost during these times.

On a positive note, businesses were using lockdown to take some long-awaited leave, spending time planning and re-thinking their business strategies and connecting with their local community for support, via events hosted by the Hornsby Chamber of Commerce.

The community gave encouraging feedback about the grants available and the support the Government is providing in general, and we’re pleased to hear there is a strong uptake in the Hornsby LGA for vaccinations to reach the 70% and 80% rate.

Special thanks again to Mr Julian Leeser for listening to our community and representing our voice at a local and federal level. Thank you also to the Hon Philip Ruddock AO, Mayor of Hornsby for attending and representing the Hornsby Shire Council.

Hornsby Chamber is a community of likeminded business owners, and during lockdown especially we are hosting a number of virtual events to keep us connected and supported. Join us for networking, coffee and breakfast, meet the experts and fun social nights in the coming month.