A third of town’s firms in trouble

A snapshot of how small businesses are coping in the recession has found that one-third are in trouble and almost half are unable to access credit.

A survey undertaken in Bandon found that on average almost all of the town’s businesses have seen their turnover drop by nearly a quarter since 2009.

The report compiled by Bandon Enterprise Committee also showed that 47% of the businesses said they weren’t able to get credit from financial institutions.

The committee’s spokes-man Cllr Gearóid Buckley (Lab) said the downturn had led businesses to shed 14.29% of their staff from 2009-10, but that there was a slight improvement last year.

He said it was apparent that some businesses were being hindered because 81% of them hadn’t completed market research over the past two years and only 3% trade online.

“The survey has highlighted that 33% of businesses are in trouble, which is quite worrying and they need to be more innovative. The results also show that many businesses have not radically changed their business model to cope with the current economic climate,” Mr Buckley said.

“There may be some quick fixes here, but ultimately there is no magic solution and we must engage and work with the business community to bring forward solutions which will secure current businesses and create further employment.”

The committee will put a number of proposals to the town council shortly in an attempt to help traders.