A West Cumbrian toy shop was the first to be given a Government boost through the county's only accredited delivery partner for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

The Toy Shop, on Cockermouth's Main Street, is owned by Jonty and Fiona Chippendale.

They accessed the scheme, aimed at SMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic, via independent lender Enterprise Answers, based in Penrith.

Grahame Latus, chief executive, said: “For us it’s about enabling businesses to realise and unleash their potential through the provision of appropriate finance.

“We are proud to be the only Cumbria based CBILS delivery partner, of some 48 nationwide and we will endeavour to assist as many SMEs as we can through these challenging times.”

The Chippendales have run the Toy Shop for more than 20 years.

Jonty said: “We made the decision that it would be too tricky to trade without risk of spreading the disease so we let all our customers and suppliers know that we would close.

“We sat down and looked at our cashflow and it quickly became obvious that if we didn’t get a cash injection, we wouldn’t be able to buy stock and recommence trading on the other side.”

Enduring hard times is familiar territory for the family business, having been flooded twice during the last several years.

Jonty said: “Dealing with adversity has prepared us for coping with tricky situations.

“This time we knew we couldn’t predict how bad the situation might get, so we set out to apply for all the available help in order to plan for the worst-case scenario.

“We spoke to our accountant about the situation, who recommended Enterprise Answers to us as a suitable lender. We had begun discussions with our own bank but found it was impossible to make any progress.”

Grahame added: “These are unprecedented times for businesses, especially the independent retailers who perhaps are feeling the economic impact hardest if they are unable to trade during the current Government lockdown.

"It took just four working days from picking up the application, to assess it, approve it and deposit the funds in their account."