'UK faces depression if cash doesn’t arrive soon'

If government money does not begin flowing to businesses and consumers, it risks plunging the country into a depression, Roasting Plant Coffee UK CEO Jamie Robertson has warned.

The coffee entrepreneur and former executive headhunter, who is backed by former M&S boss Sir Stuart Rose, said the Chancellor’s support measures for companies during the shutdown were welcome, but the cash was not coming quickly enough.

Robertson told MCA in his own case he had been denied a business interruption loan from HSBC after an underwriting error, meaning he has to wait a further 30 days for an appeal process.

Meanwhile he said no operator in London would fall under the grant for premises with a rateable value under £51k, and he cast doubt over whether the reimbursement under the jobs retention scheme would arrive by the end of April.

He said: “From my perspective, having gone through the process, the money just isn’t flowing. All the stuff that’s supposed to be happening, it is not going to the right place

“I fear if they don’t get their act together, we wont just have a recession, we’ll have a depression, and that will have a massive impact on livelihoods.”

Robertson said he appreciated loan applications were susceptible to human error, but said the hurdles put in place were harder to overcome than when he secured a growth loan to open the debut site in London Bridge.

He added: “Time is of the essence. If we don’t get the loan, we’ll probably be ok. But no supplier will get paid, as we need to focus on putting all our cash flow towards employees.

“It makes it more difficult for everyone when it comes to reopening the economy and the shut down stops.”