Ennis Chamber Weekly Newsletter
Ennis Chamber Weekly Newsletter
May 01, 2020
Good morning,
The promise of summer has been in the air for the past few weeks, and with the increase in temperature have come some tell-tale signs that lockdown is fraying nerves. There’s a sense that collectively we are getting ‘mad for road’!
Quite literally, with reports that motor fuel demand has steady increased at forecourts around Ennis over the past week, and a noticeable increase in the number of cars cruising through town has been reported.
Hopefully, window-shopping exercises conducted during lockdown will convert to hard sales in the coming weeks when restrictions start to lift. Perhaps the time spent indoors will have improved our national understanding of how important it is to shop local – now more than ever if we are to successfully re-start our economy.
A Week of Surveys
Our big news at Ennis Chamber this week was the launch of our first COVID-19 survey, in association with Clare FM
The survey can be completed by logging on to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5HL73CW
But, hurry the window of opportunity is tight, it closes at 2pm today (Fri May 01). With many of the questions either checklist or multiple choice based, it will take very little time to complete.
We are inviting businesses throughout ‘The Banner’ to complete this survey to ensure their voices are heard, so please feel free to share the link. We have had a really good response rate to date and we need to keep it going right tot he deadline.
The headline results will be revealed from Tuesday May 5th on Clare FM, on our social platforms and local media outlets and full results will be published on our website https://www.ennischamber.ie
Meanwhile, the results of the latest Chambers Ireland Survey, the third in an on-going series, were released Thursday (April 30) to blanket coverage on national radio and TV news.
Among the many headline grabbing statistics to emerge was the fact that 85% of businesses surveyed are not currently trading. Chambers Ireland CEO, Ian Talbot observed that the longer the lockdown has gone on the focus has shifted, and the question now facing many business owners is ‘can we afford to re-open?’ See this link for full results: https://bit.ly/2VQKXgn
Re-Energising Ennis
Ennis Chamber held a meeting of retail, hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses this week, to progress the conversation around rebooting the local economy.
From my own perspective, as CEO, I am working on a ‘Re-Energising Ennis’ Campaign and have been liaising with members of Ennis Chamber Executive and also officials at Ennis Municipal District/ Clare County Council to ensure we are on the same page when it comes to promoting Ennis as it re-opens. The specifics of the campaign will be revealed over the coming weeks, starting next week, so please stay tuned.
NSAI publishes Retail Guide
Finally, I’d like to draw the attention of retailers to an important booklet published by The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) called ‘Retail Protection and Improvement Guide’ to help retailers manage business continuity during the COVID-19 emergency. The information contained, provides important reference and guidance, as retailers prepare to re-open. The document outlines measures businesses can take to help prevent the spread of the CoronaVirus and addresses risks to both workers and the public.
See link to guidelines here: View the Guide here: NSAI-Retail-Guide-COVID-19
One Week Closer
The pain being felt by businesses right now is palpable, but with another week of lockdown is done, we are at the very least, one week closer to re-opening.
Have a lovely weekend.
Margaret O’Brien
CEO
Ennis Chamber
