The image of a narrowboat cruising along the canal is a quintessentially British scene, but sadly many trip boat companies, hire boat providers and other waterways businesses are under serious threat.

Early in the Covid-19 lockdown we ran a survey in partnership with Waterways World magazine to better understand the situation being faced. Almost 1500 waterway businesses were contacted and the responses paint a very bleak picture, with the majority of businesses reporting that they are at significant risk of collapse and some already closing.

It is seasonal businesses that are being hit hardest due to the timing of this lockdown. The inland waterways leisure industry is worth approximately £1.5bn to the UK economy, but almost 90% of these businesses rely heavily on the summer months (April to September) for the overwhelming majority, if not all, of their income. Without this income, they will have no means to repay any sort of loan and rather than get into further debt, will have no option but to cease trading. The timing has hit many businesses doubly hard off the back of the hard winter which caused widespread flooding and closures of some waterways.

We have written to Defra alongside British Marine, the Broads Authority and CRT asking for more financial assistance for waterway businesses and we have written to every MP with a waterway in their constituency.

What we’re campaigning for:

• A financial package from the Government – similar to that given to the fishing industry – to enable navigation authorities to underwrite licence and mooring fees for waterway businesses for this year. This would relieve waterways businesses of a significant cost and allow navigation authorities to continue to maintain the waterways so that everyone can safely use the waterways.
• Additional financial schemes for the businesses that are still falling between the gaps of those grants and loans already on offer