How the Novichok attack affected businesses

Businesses say the future is bright in Salisbury, more than seven years after the Novichok poisonings.

It comes as the inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok in 2018, found Russian President Vladimir Putin was “astonishingly reckless” and bears “moral responsibility” for Ms Sturgess’s death.

The director of Salisbury’s Chamber of Commerce, Lucy Beck, said businesses have learned lessons and recovered after the night time economy and retail businesses took a hit and are now flourishing.

Ms Beck said: “It’s a vibrant busy city, but like all cities of this size, we’re fighting the online pound.”

Ms Sturgess died three months after a former Russian spy and his daughter – Sergei and Yulia Skripal – had also been poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury.

The inquiry lasted seven weeks and included a full examination of the poisonings.

At the time of the poisonings, businesses were seriously affected as areas were decontaminated, shoppers avoided the city and tour busses were re-routed to Bath.

Rachel Tribbeck’s jewellers shop has been open in Salisbury for 120 years.

She said the time of the poisonings was “unprecedented”.

“Footfall did dramatically fall and it was a very hard and uncertain time. People were afraid to come into Salisbury,” she added.

“It’s a very vibrant city now. We’ve got a lot to offer and people are very supportive of Salisbury.”

Jayne Prigent, who runs Jas Hair Group salons in the area, said Salisbury was “vacated” after the poisonings.

“We were a ghost town. The news broke and it emptied out almost instantly overnight,” she said.

“But in some sort of way there was resistance from the business owners, they were able to come together, support each other, and we just carried on.”