Shropshire's English language centres hit hard by coronavirus pandemic
The boss of an English language teaching centre in Shropshire which attracts foreign students says the coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on the business.
Severnvale Academy, in Claremont Hill, Shrewsbury, and Concord College, in Acton Burnell, are members of the association English UK which is calling on the Government to make funding available to help centres stay afloat.
The courses are popular with Chinese and Italian students who are the biggest customers and among the earliest to be hit by travel bans resulting in most centres suffering severe cash flow problems before other businesses were affected.
Severnvale Academy's managing director Ed Browne said: "Our English language teaching centre in Shrewsbury has been devastated by the impact of the virus just at a time when we are about to enter our peak summer period - it could not have come at a worse point in our annual cycle.
"Given we rely on international travel for students to visit us, our recovery is also likely to be lagged significantly in comparison to many domestic sectors. Without additional Government support there is now a clear risk that the crisis will change our industry irrevocably."
Mr Browne said like many businesses Severnvale has lodged an application to Shropshire Council and was awaiting the outcome. He added that a limited number of courses were now being offered online as an alternative for the time being.
It is believed that language schools located across the Midlands are worth £143 million to the region's economy and are in danger of going into administration unless they are eligible for support.
Struggling
English UK has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to ask that the business rates holiday scheme originally created for the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors be extended for its teaching centres which occupy large office premises. It also wants Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans to be made available from banks which may filter more quickly to help save struggling businesses.
English UK Central's chairman Rick Johns said: "Support for English language teaching institutes in the Midlands is particularly important because there is usually just one centre in each town or city and once they’re gone that service is gone forever."
The association said most of the centres were privately-owned in a seasonal sector which has been hit particularly hard and early by Covid-19 resulting in the industry facing an unprecedented crisis.
Around 3,860 workers in the region rely on international students learning English in communities including in Birmingham, Shropshire and Worcester.
Some 550,000 students come from all over the world to learn English in the UK annually. More than half are under-18s often travelling with school groups for up to two weeks.
