It comes as the latest NZIER quarterly survey of business opinion nationwide shows 35 percent of firms expect a deterioration in general economic conditions.
And 28 percent report a weakening in their own businesses, with 10 percent looking at reducing staff, which is the highest reading since the global financial crisis in 2009.
North End Engineering and Adams Sawmilling both closed last month, laying off 10 and 12 staff respectively.
North End Engineering owner Piers Mingham said telling staff he was closing was ‘‘probably the hardest day of my life’’.
‘‘Because it doesn’t just affect me, it affects all their lives.’’
He was involved in the business for about 24 years.
Located on Range St in the industrial estate, the business specialised in structural steel engineering.
It worked on homes, dairy sheds and a wide range of projects over the years, including many of Ashburton’s landmark buildings such as the Ashburton Art Gallery, Electricity Ashburton offices, Burger King, KFC and McDonald's.
‘‘It was a race to the bottom, everybody keeps undercutting everybody, there’s no money in any of the jobs,’’ Mingham said.
And the increasing rules and regulations were particularly hard on small businesses.
He blamed the former Labour government.
‘‘They have absolutely destroyed New Zealand, borrowed lots of money, spent it on wokey crap,’’ Mingham said.
‘‘I don’t think I will be the last (business to close), I think there will be a whole load. I don’t think we have reached the bottom yet, I think there’s more hurt to come,’’ he said.
‘‘In years to come, there will be no small businesses, because you can not compete.’’
Adams Sawmilling managing director Wayne Farr said the business itself was going well when he shut it down.
Located on Malcolm McDowell Rd, it had operated for 40 years.
Regulations around compliance with WorkSafe new health and safety conditions and ECan new resource consent conditions became too rigorous.
‘‘We traded well, it was a good viable business, but we just couldn’t afford those costs,’’ Farr said.
‘‘Financially, it wasn’t viable to continue to comply with the conditions we were faced with.’’
It was a sign of the times that compliance issues were just too much for some businesses.
The two closures follow fellow Ashburton business Macrocraft Furniture shutting its Wills St factory and showroom in April.
Part-owner Dayle Prichard said on social media at the time it had been a hard decision.
‘‘But with the tightening economy and spending, cheaper imports from China and Vietnam of wooden furniture, marketplace, etc, we decided to make the call,’’ Prichard said.
The business had been manufacturing furniture for 30 years in Ashburton. In the early 2000s it employed 25 staff, but the introduction of cheaper imports saw this decline.
Prichard is continuing today to make outdoor furniture and small items, as well as doing repairs.
