Squeezed out, broke and suicidal: Business owners at breaking point

Queenslanders who have been in business for decades have been squeezed out of rentals, pressured to sell their homes and even pushed to suicide under the pressure of the pandemic.

Small business owners are being squeezed out of rentals, pressured to sell their homes, and even pushed to suicide as the true toll of a post-pandemic economy reveals itself.

Desperate businesses have inundated Small Business Commissioner Maree Adshead’s office with 4500 calls, including more 760 related to leasing disputes, new figures show.

About 70 per cent of those involved battles with landlords over the amount of COVID rent relief to be paid under commercial leasing protections introduced last year.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland’s Amanda Rohan said businesses were now dealing with the “enormous strain” of having to repay previously frozen rents while also recovering from the most recent lockdown without the safety net of government support or rent relief.

CCIQ said a three-day lockdown, like the two across Greater Brisbane, took at least six weeks to recover from.

“We do consider that we still are in a situation where businesses need support from the State Government in other ways,” she said.

The National Retail Association is so concerned about the ability for small businesses to deal with rental pressures it has told The Courier-Mail it was proposing a collective bargaining strategy to bolster the ability of smaller retailers to negotiate future rent reductions.

It would put them on a more even keel with bigger brands across shopping precincts, who have used their bargaining power to secure rent discounts of up to 60 per cent and ongoing rent reductions.

Franchises such as the King of Knives, have already closed a string of stores across Queensland, believed to be over rent issues.

Outlets have closed in recent months in shopping centres at Chermside, Indooroopilly, Rockhampton, Townsville and Maroochydore. The company could not be reached for comment.

“Retail wasn’t doing so well before COVID,” NRA chief executive Dominique Lamb said.

“There is a lot of hangover here from issues that have been haunting us for some time.”

Ms Adshead said her office “continues to receive new dispute notices and enquiries from tenants or landlords regarding rent reductions dating back to the first half of last year, in addition to emerging issues about other small business tenancy matters”.

While commercial tenants cannot be evicted over unpaid rent owed from between March and December 2020, they can face eviction over rent arrears from this year.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said some businesses had not fully recovered to the point they could meet normal rents when the snap Greater Brisbane lockdown hit.

“We’re concerned the removal of leasing protections will tip some businesses over the edge,” he said.

“It coincides with the end of JobKeeper, which was the lifeline for so many retailers during the worst of the pandemic.”

Retailers whose leases were expiring within 12 months had negotiated rent discounts of up to 60 per cent by landlords keen to secure them, but others on longer leases had “much less success,” he said.

Shopping Centre Council of Australia executive director Angus Nardi has pointed to the strong retail spending as a factor in assistance being provided on a “case-by-case basis” going forward.

“Shopping centres have provided $490 million in rental assistance to Queensland retailers out of a national $2.1 billion, with the largest support going to businesses most affected by government restrictions such as cafes and hairdressers,” Mr Nardi said.

Uncertainty caused by COVID-19 compounded the grief Jane Koch felt after losing her husband and business partner.

Jane Koch’s husband Rob Koch took his own life following enormous business pressures compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture: Brendan Radke

Rob Koch took his own life just months after the couple celebrated 33 years of operating Man Overboard menswear stores in Cairns and Port Douglas.

“He was very aware and frightened about the impacts of COVID-19 on our business. And in some ways he was right to be,” Mrs Koch said.

She didn’t believe the pandemic was solely to blame for her husband’s death but she said it certainly played a role.

“I’m probably not the only person who has experienced this as an effect of the pandemic and I won’t be the last,” Mrs Koch said.

She said state governments had a responsibility to build confidence in people that borders weren’t going to shut at short notice and businesses could find stability.

Ms Koch said she took 2020 one day at a time and her business wouldn’t have survived without help from her landlords.

Rebecca Spink from GC Print on the Gold Coast focused on training staff and reassessing their services, a luxury afforded by an understanding landlord of eight years.

Ms Spink was able to pay reduced rent at her Arundel shop but the wavering economy led her to sell her family home.

“We weren’t at the point of losing it but I was worried about it and I always like to be a step ahead,” she said.

Ms Spink said 2020 was the most testing of her 16 years in business.

“I try to think of it as a year of growth,” she said. “But it drained me.”

Penny Krishna says businesses could have been better supported through the pandemic. Photo: Steve Pohlner

P3 Events owner Penny Krishna said she didn’t receive any understanding from her landlord when she was squeezed out of her commercial rental at Norman Park in Brisbane.

The event manager said her landlord agreed she could pay rent at half price for two months before she had to decide whether to stay or leave.

“We had been loyal tenants there for nearly five years and that’s all he could do for me,” Ms Krishna said. “Under COVID-19 regulations, we couldn’t have been evicted, but we would have racked up a debt that we owed when we were trying to get back on our feet.”

Ms Krishna downsized to a cheaper commercial rental at Morningside.

She said the biggest roadblock for business was a lack of confidence from corporate clients.

“Most of our clients are also public listed companies on the ASX, so they can’t be associated with an outbreak or cluster resulting from an event because the bad PR wouldn’t be worth it,” Ms Krishna said. “It’s been abysmal. We’ve been trading for 12 years and this has been our worst year to date.”

If you are suffering from any of the issues that have been discussed or need assistance, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.