THE cost of the pandemic – in money and jobs – became increasingly clear as 2021 went on.
As a string of companies revealed their profits or losses for the first year of living with Covid-19, we saw how some of Dorset’s best-known businesses had fared.
Retailers had to contend with prolonged store closures because of lockdowns – and those who had a strong presence online were in a better position to absorb the hit.
Lush, Poole’s global cosmetics band, made a substantial loss in its financial year ending June 2020 and lost 215 staff in a redundancy programme, including 100 in Poole.
But founder chief executive Mark Constantine said earlier this year that the business had returned to profit and avoided mass job losses.
Lush’s digital sales this financial year are expected to top £100million, more than double their level before the pandemic.
Mr Constantine the Daily Echo he had suffered a “bleak week” at the start of the pandemic when “I just couldn’t see how we were going to come through”.
But he added: “What’s I suppose…
