Famous streets, such as Sauchiehall Street, will never bounce back. The street looked bad enough before the pandemic with huge empty stores, such as the old BHS. I can’t imagine many retailers rushing back to fill massive units like that any time soon. The council will have to seriously think out of the box about how to ensure the street doesn’t become a no-go area. Perhaps more green spaces could help. Demolishing the BHS store and making a multi-use space for markets and outdoor events could help transform the street and encourage more investment.
Catherine James Via email
DOMESTIC cleaners across Scotland have seen their incomes fall by more than 80% during the pandemic and now there is a warning that “sheer desperation” from their exclusion from financial support measures could put householders and wider communities at risk. Unlike their counterparts in England, domestic cleaners here are unable to work, apart from those carrying out essential duties in the homes of people physically unable to do housework themselves. Their trade association – the Domestic Cleaning Business Network (DCBN) – is lobbying the Scottish Government to give them financial help and is supporting its members to do likewise. DCBN director, Krissi Foskett, runs her own firm, BD365, across the Central Belt, but has had to furlough 22 of her 27 staff. She told The Sunday National her firm was using up cash reserves, which she expected to run out by April, and had not received a Strategic Framework Business Fund grant because of confusion over eligibility.