The Coronavirus pandemic hasn’t brought about much good at all, but we can say thanks to it for setting up the UK to come out of the national lockdown with more businesses than ever.

It’s no doubt that the impacts of Covid-19 have been detrimental to lives, businesses, the economy and the all round well-being of the population. Businesses in particular seemed to think that they had no hope when the closure of over 396,000 firms struck – with more soon to follow. However, what about all of the businesses which have started since the first lockdown?

Businesses both big and small have struggled throughout this past year with the hospitality and travel and tourism sectors facing some serious wrath. We’re all aware that our local pubs have been back and forth like a yo-yo with their ‘eat out to help out’ schemes, 10.p.m curfews and for some, complete closures.

Despite so many not making it through the final push of lockdown and ultimately resulting in permanent shut downs, there’s also thousands that have managed to find the funds and will be lucky enough to come out of the other side once it hits April 12th.

Many businesses have used this time to thrive with the introductions of online deliveries, creations of prominent social media presences and making new products that may not have been possible prior to having all of these spare hours.

Alongside all of the companies that have been upping their game, the number of new businesses has sky rocketed and reached an all-time high. Over 407,000 start-ups have launched over lockdown which we can only put down to an increase in free time, a growing passion for learning about e-commerce and the inspirations of social media gurus.

These launches are set to thrive post-lockdown as we see a plethora of creative start-ups and an evident love amongst society to focus on helping small and local businesses grow.

Jenny Scott, owner of Cheshire-based gift shop ‘Ruby & Harry’, gives her opinion on how the business sector is capable of benefiting during these uncertain times.

“Now more than ever, companies are doing deliveries, they’re using this time to expand their menus or create new products, and people are creating online platforms to entice customers.”

“This is the time to have a fresh outlook on your business. People can’t go into work so they’re having to think outside the box and are planning ahead. For most business owners I know this has been a positive time that they have used to build on themselves and it’s realistically the best time to start your next business venture.”