The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A major auto dealer yesterday confirmed it is temporarily laying-off 80 staff as the industry prepares to make its case to the government for a partial opening amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

Fred Albury, the Auto Mall’s principal, told Tribune Business that the company planned to follow the lead established by the likes of Atlantis, Baha Mar and Cable Bahamas in paying employees an additional sum on top of what they will receive from the National Insurance Board (NIB).

Disclosing that the Shirley Street-headquartered business had paid all due salaries through to the end of this week, he said the continued uncertainty over how long the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic shutdown will last had left Auto Mall with little choice but to reduce costs given that it is earning zero revenues.

Mr Albury, who is also the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA) president, revealed that the industry is readying its arguments to be allowed to open its parts and service departments “in a limited capacity” so that vehicles can receive much-needed repairs.

He added that his business, as well as other dealers and auto repair shops, were fielding frequent customer calls including from workers in “essential services” that are exempt from the shutdown and “need to have their cars running”.

Pointing out that government vehicles will also require attention, Mr Albury said BMDA members were willing to open for a limited time and comply with social distancing protocols plus the need for all consumers and employees to be wearing protective masks.

Reiterating his belief that new vehicle sales will decline by at least 50-60 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic, Mr Albury predicted that the industry and wider Bahamian economy will encounter “rough going until about August/September” with revival prospects hinging on when - and to what extent - tourism activity revives.

“We came in today to do some documentation and try to put our package together for NIB,” the Auto Mall chief told this newspaper, confirming the temporary lay-offs. “We have no idea how long this is going to drag out for.

“We’re still going to support our staff, but NIB is our first step. We’re going to try and do something similar to what Atlantis is doing. We’re doing this, and hoping things get worked out by some time next month. It is what it is.”

Atlantis has pledged to pay its staff up to 50 percent of their due base pay for the next 60 days, the first payments for which went out last week and this. Mr Albury said of Auto Mall’s workforce: “With our group here and in Freeport, we’re probably going to be around 80. There are some pensioners and expatriates that will not be able to participate, but we’re looking at that number.

“We do our payroll bi-weekly, and paid our staff fully on the 3rd, so the next pay cycle will be the end of this week. While they will get something from NIB we’ll try to put in our portion so that everybody can keep some food on the table and survive out there.

“Speaking for ourselves, for April there is nothing coming in, and going out for salaries and other expenses you’re probably talking $100,000 out there. The hurtful part is when we do get to re-open. Do we need a full complement of staff? Do we put some part-time? Do we rotate? It’s going to be rough going, in my honest opinion, until about August/September.”

Auto Mall’s move again highlights how major Bahamian-owned businesses have been forced to take drastic, last resort measures to ensure their survival as the ripple effects from the tourism shutdown and associated COVID-19 lockdown spread throughout all sectors of the economy.

Tribune Business reported pre-Easter how Cable Bahamas temporarily laid-off almost 100 employees, with John Bull doing the same for its entire workforce with effect from April 6, 2020. The 91 year-old luxury goods and office products retailer confirmed the move the following day, noting that COVID-19 had presented itself and the world “with a crisis of unprecedented proportions”.

Having closed all its retail locations on March 20, John Bull managed to pay full staff salaries up until May 5 but added: “This approach is unfortunately not sustainable, despite cutting operational costs, if the company seeks to successfully get to the other side of this crisis.” Staff will receive 50 percent of their due salaries through April 19, with all benefits being maintained.

And even large companies in industries deemed “essential services”, and which can keep operating during the lockdown, are not immune from the sharp economic downturn. Tribune Business sources suggested that Bahamas Food Services, the Gladstone Road-based food wholesaler/distributor, had temporarily laid-off an unknown number of staff due to the loss of its now-shuttered hotel and restaurant supply trade.

Richard Flint, Bahamas Food Services’ principal, replied “no comment” when contacted by this newspaper yesterday but did not deny that staff furloughs had taken place. The company is owned and controlled by the multi-billion food distribution conglomerate, Sysco, and is still supplying food stores and other outlets that remain open. Yet this again highlights how businesses need to align costs with whatever income they are receiving if they are to emerge intact once the pandemic passes.

Mr Albury, meanwhile, said the auto industry was working on a strategy that it hopes will lead to its partial opening next month with the Government’s approval. “We’re kind of hoping that by early May we’ll be able to open in a limited capacity, only the service and parts departments,” he told Tribune Business.

“Our Association is putting a strategy to together to approach the authorities on. We’re getting calls from consumers that have dead batteries and other issues, essential workers that need to have their cars running, and the Government with their fleet of vehicles as well.

“So we’re trying to see if we can get some allowance to be open even for half a day, and using the protocols in place with social distancing and masks being worn so we can operate in some limited capacity and keep people going out there.”

Backing the Government for “doing all the right things” to counter COVID-19’s threat, Mr Albury added that other auto dealers were just as eager for a relaxation of the lockdown while still safeguarding the health of staff and customers.

“They’re anxious to get back,” he said of the wider industry, “but don’t want to be premature in putting people at risk. They would like to operate in a limited capacity to safeguard customers out there, and operate in a manner that food stores and other places do.

“We’re working on it. I know that there’s a few places that are operating like Battery & Tyre and Epic Battery that have permission to open up until about early afternoon. We’re going to ask for similar conditions. We can’t really do anything with vehicle sales right now, but we can keep our existing customers on the road out there,” he continued.

“We will get through it. I think by the end of this month we’ll have a pretty fair idea of where we’re sitting, and where the global market is sitting as well.”