About this project
Our research will investigate the specific challenges that BAME business owners faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, the strategies that they used to keep their businesses afloat, and how they engaged with financial and regional support.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, many businesses in the UK temporarily closed with the majority of businesses that operated during the lockdown doing so at a reduced capacity with lower turnover. This would have had significant implications for BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) owned businesses because they are traditionally concentrated in sectors that were particularly affected by the pandemic and lockdown such as retailing, restaurants, hospitality and personal services.
BAME individuals also had higher mortality rates compared to non-BAME individuals and BAME owned businesses usually hire a considerable amount of BAME employees and attract more BAME customers than non-BAME businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic implies that BAME owned businesses would have had to incur considerable costs to protect their businesses, staff and customers.