"WE CAN'T wait to get back to business."

These are the words of the team behind family business Solent and Wightline Cruises, who after more than 30 years in service had to close suddenly due to the national lockdown.

They shut their doors on Sunday, March 22, and furloughed all but two employees.

They said the future was looking bleak and the past 14 weeks have been the hardest the company has ever known.

Behind the scenes, director Alison Rayment has had to fight to keep the company going.

Hours and hours were spent trying to get any grants, loans or help available.

Being a passenger vessel company, Solent and Wightline seemed to fall into a hole as to what category they belonged to.

Their premises at Thetis Wharf, Cowes, were not classed as tourism even though passengers need to use the building and pontoons to board the vessels.

This meant they were not entitled to a grant to assist with the business rates still due.

They had to get a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, which Alison said was not as easy to get as it was advertised to be.

Fortunately, after several discussions with the Isle of Wight Council, the business managed to receive a grant to assist them towards their business rates.

As with many other companies, they still had outgoings and needed to generate income to help.

Discussions with the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service proved fruitful when Solent and Wightline offered their services to assist in the passenger transportation over to Portsmouth or Southampton.

This will now be an ongoing service and the company is happy to assist.

After the latest government announcements, Solent and Wightline are happy to be back in business from Saturday, July 4.

The first trip will be the popular day trip to Portsmouth which departs at 9.30am from Thetis Wharf to Portsmouth for the day, returning at 5pm.

The day return will be running seven days per week for the foreseeable future.

Director Lee Rayment has been working hard to get the vessels ready, to include all social distancing measures.

Alison said: "We would love to welcome back our customers, new and old. We cannot wait to get back to business, delivering a service our customers love and appreciate."