NSW businesses at breaking point with half waiting for Covid-19 support

Almost half of NSW businesses that applied for Covid-19 financial support are still waiting to receive their share of $1.1b in payments as the Sydney lockdown enters its seventh week.

Nicola Reindorf and husband Orlando. Picture: Ryan Osland

Businesses are pleading with the NSW government to get financial support flowing, with almost half of all applicants having not ­received anything as the Sydney lockdown enters its seventh week.

There are currently 100,722 ­applicants, from a total of 214,009, waiting to receive a share of $1.1bn worth of support payments, ­including Covid-19 business grants, micro-business grants and JobSaver payments, according to Service NSW.

Less than a third of applications for the Covid-19 business grant, which offers one-off payments of up to $15,000, have been processed, with just 36,876 approvals from 112,258 ­applications.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday apologised to those who had experienced delays and said Service NSW hoped to have dealt with “most of the backlog” by next Friday, despite just 12,062 applications being processed on Tuesday.

Extra Silky owner Nina Lee said she has been waiting for four weeks to hear about her appli­cations for the Covid-19 business grant and JobSaver to keep her inner-west Petersham hair salon afloat. “It’s looking like we won’t survive at the moment,” she said.

“I am fortunate to have a loyal customer base and there will be customers on the other side, but looking at my bank account at the moment, it’s looking serious.”

Ms Lee said she had spent hours on hold with Service NSW.

The Standard Store owner Nicola Reindorf said she had ­applied on July 21 for the Covid-19 business grant and JobSaver to get the inner-city Surry Hills fashion outlet she runs with husband Orlando through the lockdown. She has yet to receive any payments.

“We’re into week seven and a lot of businesses just can’t wait seven weeks to get help,” she said.

“We need more than a one-off payment. We need to know whether this is going to carry on, we need to plan our businesses so we can trade out of it. The government needs to have some honest discussions if this is going to be over in September or ­December.”

Coffee roasting company and cafe Kwila owner Melissa Garcia said her business was yet to receive any of the Service NSW grants even though she applied on the day applications opened.

“We’re trading at a significant loss but we can’t afford to stop even if it’s at a bare minimum as we have no certainty of any financial support,” she said. “We really have no choice even if we’re nervous about being out there.”

Sydney deputy lord mayor Jess Scully, who has been advocating for small businesses throughout the lockdown, said businesses were operating in a tougher landscape than ever. “There is no landlord code this time,” she said, “no requirement for landlords to discount rents. Every single business is negotiating on a case-by-case basis and it’s completely up to the discretion of the landlord.”