Some industries, such as the retail and travel sectors, are likely to be severely affected by the economic fallout of COVID-19. Many businesses are issuing zealous proclamations about the urgent financial support that they require if a systemic industry-wide collapse is to be avoided, but not all of those requests have resulted in the loosening of the Government's purse strings. Rishi Sunak MP has so far icily rebuffed the multiple pleas from airlines for extra cash. 

However, in some cases, this approach has borne fruit. Commercial tenants made a great deal of noise about the need for Government support over winding up petitions being presented by landlords, and the Government has swept in to help. One wonders whether it is the people who shout the loudest who are helped first as opposed to those whose arguments are most meritorious.

A new entrant to this lobbying forum is the horticultural industry. British plant growers have come out to malign the Government's support package on the basis that it fails to account for the particular seasonality of their revenue cycle. Even enlisting the inimitable Alan Titchmarsh to their cause who described findings that 62% of growers were not eligible for business support grants and 79% of growers were not entitled to any rates relief as "shocking".

It will be interesting to see whether the Government responds to the calls for a bespoke support package for the plant growing industry, particularly when the notoriously green-fingered Dutch have already announced a more comprehensive scheme for their growers. If the Government does react, perhaps the answer is to bang the proverbial pots and pans more loudly - with so much on the collective plate, perhaps the extra attention is what businesses need to get to the head of the queue.