A south Cumbrian business leader has called on firms to get ready to trade their way out of recession.

The UK entered a recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction - as the economy shrank 20.4 per cent compared with the first three months of the year.

Business figures agreed the recession had been inevitable for some months following the coronavirus lockdown and said now was the time to focus on the recovery.

Barry Leahey MBE, managing director of playground equipment maker Playdale Playgrounds, in Haverthwaite, said businesses needed to prepare themselves to make a recovery.

“We knew it was coming and things may only get worse from here,” said Barry, who is also chair of the Cumbria branch of the Institute of Directors.

“Let’s create a culture and ambition to trade out of the recession.

“If you roll into a ball you will come out of it in 18 months to realise that the world has moved on.

“If you are going into a competition you have got to make sure you have cut your cloth to fit and you can begin training.

“Businesses are only going to get fitter by training the staff and innovating and maybe experiencing a little bit of failure so they can learn what success feels like.

“The only way we’re going to get out of this is to trade out of it.”

Rob Johnston, chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said he believed there was the potential for a “significant recovery” in quarter three of the year.

He believed Cumbria’s tourism sector and some of its retailers were doing better than initially hoped.

However, the big concerns were what would happen when the furlough scheme came to an end and the potential resurgence of the virus in the autumn.

“The sooner we get to some level of normality and, crucially, the sooner we get the track and trace system up and running reliably and people are confident about getting into spaces again in large volumes, businesses can get some confidence as a result - that’s the biggest single impact on what will happen,” he said.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said: “With hundreds of local people having lost their jobs, and families suffering, it is of course no surprise that the UK has now formally entered recession.Our area is so heavily dependent on hospitality and tourism, which is why the recession has hit the South Lakes harder than anywhere. Having lost the first half of their season, tourism businesses have little chance of making up those losses no matter how busy the Lakes currently are."

He said the Government must agree to his and Cumbria Tourism's proposal for a financial package to help operators in the area to avoid more job losses and business closures.