A PUB owner has revealed he has lost “nine million in sales” and about 50 per cent of trade since the start of the pandemic.

Steve Haslam, who runs the Bread and Cheese pub in Benfleet, Urban Fresh and The White Horse in Ramsden Heath, was forced to shut other venues as well as being hit by a drop in customers.

Southend seafront trader, Paul Thompson, lost 40 per cent of business during the first year of the pandemic, while other businesses raised concerns about the lasting impact.

Mr Haslam said: “We lost about nine million sales and about 50 per cent of our trade since the start of pandemic which has been pretty punishing, and we lost four of our businesses too.

“It’s been hard. There’s no doubt about it and the first lockdown from March 2020 was when we saw the most damage done.

“We opened and shut over and over, and for a small independent familyrun businesses it’s not good. We’ve now got to live with this for next five years to try and get anywhere near back to things before the pandemic.”

Liz Frazer, co-owner of Mixtures accessory shop in Southend’s Victoria Shopping Centre, fears shopping trends have changed, with more people shopping online instead of heading to the town centre.

She said: “Business has gone down and Covid has caused more people to shop online. We’ve seen about a 20 per cent drop in business and sales.

“I’ve run the businesses for more than 30 years and it’s now just a way to get a wage which we are just doing at the moment. I don’t think there’s enough for shoppers to come into the town centre - it’s just phone shops and hairdressers now.

“We do still have some loyal customers and we’ve not had rent rises and these are both some relief to us.”

Mr Thompson, owner of Pebbles One Cafe on the seafront, added: “The first year was very tough trading and there were car parks shut which didn’t help much.

“The first year I saw a drop of about 40 per cent and then last year it was better at about 15 per cent but it’s still hard and there’s a lot of unknowns. I hope the future is looking a bit brighter for business.”