KENDAL business owners are being called upon to put forward ideas for a ‘recovery plan’ to put the town ‘on the map again’ after the coronavirus crisis.

Sarah Williams, manager of Kendal Business Improvement District (BID), said some businesses would inevitably “fall by the wayside” during the pandemic but added others would “rise from the ashes” to replace them.

And Kendal BID has organised a conference call on Monday urging business managers and owners to suggest ways the town could get back on its feet once restrictions are lifted.

Mrs Williams said: “The Lake District has got this massive following which is brilliant for them.

"For so many years Kendal has been advertised as a ‘gateway’ [to the Lake District] and the Auld Grey Town, and there’s only so much you can do with £100,000 [the BID levy] to say ‘come to Kendal’, so we have got to be very particular.

“It doesn’t just sell itself. It really doesn’t. Once people are here, they love it.

“There are such a lot of people I have met who have said ‘I didn’t realise Kendal was such a lovely place.’”

She felt the momentum which BID had built up with projects such as a ‘perks’ scheme to encourage coach drivers to stop in the town had been halted by the crisis and that it was going to take some work to get Kendal ‘on the map again’.

Monday’s conference will be open to any and all ideas, although Mrs Williams felt the town might need to get away from ‘mass gatherings’ such as festivals which could be untenable for some time.

“It might be that the only way we can get people into Kendal is to put some big electronic billboards on the bypass - I don’t know,” she said.

“But we have to think of something to try and get people back and contend with the fact that some people are quite negative about the town.

“We are so lucky. We are so so lucky to be living here.”

Jan Nicholson, co-owner of Kendal Hostel and a BID board member, said: “The ones who will work together will go forwards. There’s safety in numbers and strength in numbers. Those who don’t come and put their two pennies worth will get left behind, that’s my thought. And I don’t want to get left behind. We can’t not do anything.”

To take part in Monday’s discussion, which is open to business owners and managers in Kendal, email kendalbid@btinternet.com.