FSB warns the 'hard work must start now' to rebuild the local economy after the First Minister's announcement that all Covid legal restrictions would be lifted from March 21

The FSB’s Highlands & Islands Development Manager says the “hard work must start now” as restrictions relax after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced all Covid legal restrictions would be lifted from March 21

Earlier today she confirmed that the Covid certification scheme requiring certain venues and events to check the vaccine or test status of attendees will be the first to go from next Monday.

The obligation for businesses to retain contact details for contact tracing purposes will draw to a close on March 21 as well as will the legal requirement for businesses, places of worship and service providers to consider Scottish Government guidance.

The FSB’s north boss, David Richardson, said: “FSB Scotland welcomes today’s announcement from the First Minister regarding the timetable for winding down remaining legal covid restrictions, but this is far from the end of the story.

“Scotland lost 20,000 of its smallest businesses in a single year of the pandemic, and the hard work begins now to get local economies back on their feet.

“We want Scottish Government Ministers to put the local firms and self-employed people that gave up so much over the past two years at the centre of their recovery plans, and we want local authorities and the Scottish Government to work together to ensure that cash aimed at recovery reaches the real economy.

“Finally, while the future is a closed book as far as new Covid variants are concerned, we’d like decision-makers to recognise the damage this crisis has already done to Scotland’s business community before re-imposing tough restrictions.”

Related Story – First Minister announces all Covid legal requirements are set to come to an end over the next month

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