Catering dominates Covid-19 financial support requests as bankruptcies continue

The food catering sector has been in particular need of government assistance as a result of the pandemic, according to new figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Thursday. The data follows as the group found that 85 new companies filed for bankruptcy over the mid-May period.

According to Statistics Netherlands, 60 percent of catering establishments with fewer than 250 employees have been benefiting from the TOGS scheme, a government support scheme that grants up to four thousand euros to affected companies in sectors which have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. This number is considerably higher than the percentage across all sectors, which stands at 26 percent, according to Statistics Netherlands.

Other sectors that saw more than than three quarters of companies claim government support included clothing stores for men's and women's undergarments, fairground attractions and taxi services.

At the same time, a total of 85 companies filed for bankruptcy in between May 18 and 22; a more than seven percent decrease on the previous week's numbers, the research group reported. Since the year's beginning, a total of 1,575 companies have filed for bankruptcy, a 60 percent rise since the same period in 2019.

The figures follow a week on from the newest set of economic relief measures, which are set to pump an additional 13 billion euros into the Dutch economy in order to try to support entrepreneurs facing financial ruin due to the Covid-19 crisis.