• Car Dealer Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
No Result
View All Result

Bleak winter for Northern Ireland car dealers as six-week lockdown announced with no click-and-collect

John Bowman by John Bowman
December 21, 2020
0
Home News

Car dealers in Northern Ireland are facing yet another blow after a new six-week national lockdown was announced – with no click-and-collect allowed.

Stormont Executive ministers said last night (Dec 17) that non-essential retail must shut from December 26 for a month and a half, with a review after four weeks.

Dealerships had only just been allowed to reopen their doors after a circuit-breaker lockdown was brought in between November 27 and December 11. However, click-and-collect was at least permitted then, as reported by Car Dealer.


It’s among a wide range of restrictions that deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, pictured at yesterday’s press conference, said were ‘draconian’ but ‘necessary’.

  • Ad-free Car Dealer website, £5 per month

Essential shops will have to close by 8pm during the first week of the lockdown.

Contact services are having to shut, and the hospitality sector is being restricted to takeaway only.

No sporting events will be allowed in the first week, with the public being urged to stay at home.


O’Neill said that without the action, the health service would be ‘completely crushed’ by January.

‘Whilst this is draconian in many ways, it’s necessary, and this is about saving lives, this is about saving the health service and this is about taking some pressure off the health care staff,’ she told reporters at Stormont on Thursday evening.

‘We’ve never been in such a bad position as we are now and will be in January if this didn’t happen now.’

But it is feared the new lockdown will means thousands of jobs are lost.

Belfast Chamber said it recognised the severe pressure faced by the NHS and that there was a need for action as Covid-19 cases were still ‘stubbornly high’.

However, it added it was worth noting that cases stayed high while many retailers and hospitality businesses were closed.

Although he supported the decision to get the virus under control, Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: ‘This is the news that we have been dreading for some time.’

He added that the lockdown would ‘sound the death knell’ for many businesses that won’t be able to see through the period.

‘They won’t come out the other side and we are left counting the cost of an industry in tatters. The impact on the economy will run into the hundreds of millions, thousands of redundancies and a sector dead on its feet.’

  • Register as a Car Dealer member and get more out of the website here
  • Car Dealer Top 100 – the most profitable car dealers in the UK here
  • Car Dealer Mag issue 154 is out now – Read it here
  • Join our breaking news WhatsApp group – Click here to join now

Get more from Car Dealer

  • Premium stories
  • Used car data
  • Magazine early access
Register

Or Sign in

Related Posts

Electric car charging point at Chester Services. Peter Byrne/PA Wire/PA Images
News

Used electric car supply is quite significantly exceeding demand, says Auto Trader

April 21, 2021
Irish trade body ‘urgently requests’ changes to click-and-collect rules to avoid inevitable job losses
News

New car market bounce back expected in second quarter – but that could lead to raised targets

April 21, 2021
Donnelly Group is named top regional Land Rover retailer by manufacturer
News

Donnelly Group is named top regional Land Rover retailer by manufacturer

April 21, 2021
Lexus Derby 2021 award, Inchcape UK
News

Inchcape UK notches up a first after doing the double with Lexus Group of the Year title

April 21, 2021
DVLA Swansea via PA
News

DVLA workers to stage fresh walkout over Covid concerns

April 21, 2021
Big Motoring World car dealership
News

Generation Z is itching to spend its stockpiled cash on buying a car, new research finds

April 21, 2021

Want the latest news?

Sign up to Car Dealer's daily news email updates

Subscribe
Electrified vehicle registrations overtake diesels for the first time in Europe
News

What is stopping car buyers from switching to EV? Our exclusive White Paper reveals all

April 16, 2021
How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed
News

How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed

March 12, 2021
Used Car Awards with Mike Brewer and James Baggott graphi
News

Who won what at the Used Car Awards 2020? Mike Brewer reveals our winning car dealers

March 12, 2021
Used Car Awards 2021 logo
Used Car Awards

Used Car Awards 2021 will be back in all their glory on November 29 hosted by Mike Brewer

April 15, 2021
The Newcomers: Here are the 10 electric car brands coming to a forecourt near you soon
News

The Newcomers: Here are the 10 electric car brands coming to a forecourt near you soon

March 30, 2021
Trophy Cars forecourt
News

Investigation: Meet the hyper-specialist car dealers making their money from weird and wonderful motors

March 12, 2021
Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK
Car Dealer Top 100

Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK

February 10, 2021
BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Volvo, could they be sold under one roof?
News

Multi franchising: Premium brands rule out selling cars alongside rivals in same dealer – as others remain tight-lipped

March 11, 2021
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
Call us: 020 8125 3880

© 2020 Blackball Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Car Dealer Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards 2020
  • Used Car Awards 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100

© 2020 Blackball Media

Log In
Register
Register
Server 1