Auckland’s Stage 4 lockdown has wiped nearly $750 million in consumer spending from businesses coffers, according to data published by Heart of the City.

The figure equates to $320 million lost for the retail sector, and $294 million for the hospitality sector, which averages out to about $560,000 lost per business.

“The coming months for many businesses will be untenable if urgent financial support is not put in place,” said Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck.

“Financial relief, as well as supply of product and access to labour is urgent and there are other actions needed to leverage the potential of the city centre, so we can get back to a level of optimism we could see before the latest lockdown.

“If there isn’t the investment now and businesses are left to fail, recovery will take longer and we’ll risk having a lot more people dependent on the Government downstream.”

According to the non-profit, even if Auckland was to drop to Stage 3 or Stage 2 restrictions in the coming weeks, many businesses will need to remain shuttered.

Despite this, Beck said, Heart of the City is confident in the future of the city, but the immediate challenges need to be dealt with as soon as possible.

“It will require a collaborative effort to make sure that we aren’t starting from a much lower base,” Beck  said.