Sheffield Chamber comments on recent meeting with Secretary of State for Transport

20th April 2020

Tom Sutton, Interim General Manager and Peter Kennan, Chair of Transport Forum from Sheffield Chamber of Commerce were asked to take part in a Zoom video call of Northern business leaders with Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps MP and 4 other

One of the items on the agenda was the frustration being felt by small and micro business in accessing the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), due to the banks struggling to deal with the huge workload this scheme places upon them. We made some detailed suggestions about how applications could be fast tracked and we have since written, at his request, to one of the Ministers at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with more comprehensive details. Everything possible is being done to roll out this loan support but it is a hugely challenging undertaking.

In a follow up Tweet Grant Shapps thanked the representatives on the call and recognised the valuable opportunity to hear from directly from business. In the same message Mr Shapps stated that he was “fully committed to supporting the region – now and in the future”.