Imagine writing to someone and not hearing back for three months. You would likely conclude the person in question wasn’t much bothered about what you had to say.
That’s what happened when I wrote to business secretary Alok Sharma back in March outlining my concerns that the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic poses a real risk travel shops on our high streets will become a thing of the past.
In late June, I eventually got an – albeit thin – reply from a junior minister. This amounted to the government pointing to their support package and saying: "We are closely monitoring the impact on the travel industry."
Every one of our members in retail travel will tell you this is way short of what’s needed – action is key for this hugely important sector of our economy. Warm words don’t do justice to the gravity of the situation.