A THIRD of the borough's businesses have slashed their workforce inside the last three months, according to survey by Doncaster Chamber.
Sales, cashflow and business confidence across the town are all "falling through the floor", the Chamber's head of policy Daniel Fell said this week.
However, business chiefs have backed Doncaster to battle through the economic downturn and bounc
e back quicker than any other similarly-sized town.
According to the survey, UK sales decreased for 48 per cent of Doncaster businesses compared with 38 per cent only three months ago.
Cashflow improved for only nine per cent of businesses - down from 22 per cent the previous quarter.
While the balance of businesses expecting profitability to improve or worsen has worsened, with an overall balance of -23% - compared to -17% in the previous quarter and +52% one year ago.
Mr Fell said: "The Chamber is working hard to support local businesses in the current climate.
"We recently launched a Payment Pledge to ensure that all of our suppliers are paid within 14 days and we are encouraging other partners to do something similar.
"Similarly, in the next week we will be launching a guide that will go to 4,000 Doncaster businesses providing signposting advice to help them survive in the downturn."
Stephen Shore, chief executive at Doncaster Chamber, said: "These are obviously distressing results and we are calling on the Government to do all it can to get the economy back on its feet and avoid a deep recession.
"There are however still some reasons to be optimistic. Statistics suggest that Doncaster will be well placed to bounce back quicker than other similar towns when the upturn kicks in and Doncaster PLC must be ready to make the best of this opportunity.
"There are a number of key capital schemes due to take place in Doncaster over the next few years including the Civic and Cultural Quarter, White Rose Way, the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme and the Building Schools for the Future Programme.
"These projects have a combined value of around £700m which, if we bring these projects forward as far as possible, could be used to kick start the local economy.
"That said, the biggest single win would be for the banks to start lending to local businesses. As such, the Government should now be using leverage it has with banks as a result of tax payer funding to ensure the right financial support is being offered to SMEs.
"We welcome the business aid package that the government is launching, which aims to assist businesses that have been struggling with their cashflow since banks curbed lending."
*The quarterly economic survey was distributed to all of the Chamber's 127 members. Eleven per cent of businesses responded.
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