Student shortfall adds to fears for business survival – Kevin Buckle

Many businesses are realistically setting a target of trying to survive until April, writes Kevin Buckle

Students are back - but not as visible as they used to be (Picture: Jane Barlow)

It was obvious in the shop this week that the students had returned, so I checked the Edinburgh University semester dates and sure enough, this last week has been ‘Welcome Week’.

I’m not sure whether this rebranding of Freshers’ Week is Covid related or not but I suspect so. I was starting to wonder if students were still coming from abroad, as it was very obvious last year when my first customers of the day on Thursday were a Spanish couple who had accompanied their son as he started an English literature degree. The young lad’s father bought himself a Ramones T-shirt and a CD and his son a Metallica T-shirt and was very kind about the shop, saying there was no such equivalent in Madrid.

However, it did highlight that last year families travelling from abroad to see their children safely into university had been quite common, while this year this was the first time there had been such an occurrence.

Certainly many foreign students needed to use Edinburgh’s central post office in some way when they arrived, which, of course, is conveniently placed next to Avalanche, and this year given I’m in there several times a day posting online sales I’ve hardly seen anybody at all.

First year students, of course, have not been what they used to be for some years now, as indeed many music venues will tell you, as they have preferred Netflix and binge watching box sets to actually going out, so there may be many students holed up in their new accommodation simply staying in, but even on the streets there is a definite lack of fresh-faced students about and surely some will have ventured out.

Many residents are certainly doing their bit supporting local businesses, but with the lack of people returning to their offices, the students would be a welcome boost if they did appear in socially distanced numbers.

Of course, no one group of people will save Edinburgh’s economy and everybody can do their bit, but certainly what businesses don’t need are difficulties put in their way and there needs to be some clearer thinking from the council on getting the balance right between people’s safety and businesses’ needs.

August may not have been great for shops but there were definitely some visitors about and a feeling of things slowly getting better. Unfortunately now it looks like September may see a reversal in fortunes and while in different circumstances shops would be holding out for Christmas this year the worry is that Christmas, while not being cancelled as the newspaper headlines declared, will not provide the influx of cash many businesses need to get them through the year.

The fear is that while there will undoubtedly be a second wave of job losses when furlough ends, there will then be a third wave when after Christmas it becomes clear to businesses that they aren’t going to make it through to Easter.

While some live in hope of office workers returning after Christmas, the winter months are hardly the best time to start travelling into work again and many businesses that are struggling but coping are realistically setting a target of trying to survive to April.

Of course, in Edinburgh just as some businesses may feel they have reached safety, the new Edinburgh St James opening may provide a whole new set of challenges.