I am pleased to be starting this month’s piece with some good news, writes Phil Collier (pictured), Federation of Small Businesses Area Leader for Cumbria.
According to the Federation of Small Businesses latest Small Business Index survey businesses in the North West are feeling much brighter about the future. Sales expectations and confidence are on the up with two out of three small businesses expecting their performance to improve in the next three months. You could argue that given where we have been then the only way is indeed up, but it is good to see some evidence that we have turned a corner.
This improvement will doubtless have come about due to the vaccinations programme and the easing out of lockdown both which have increased optimism amongst businesses and the general public. I suppose we will see in the next few months whether there really is the pent-up demand out there which some would have us believe. We think it is likely that some areas will recover faster than others, driven in part by the disposable incomes of those who may now be starting to spend more freely.
Many businesses though will continue to see difficult conditions through the rest of 2021 and beyond. Certainly the small businesses we have spoken to who are reliant on larger scale events are not hopeful of any major work for the next 12 months.
They will need financial support to help them through this period, which is why it is vital that our local authorities spend up their remaining discretionary funds by June this year so that Government will award them what will probably be a final lump sum to last until March next year. We have spoken to all our Cumbrian councils to get this point across and they are all working hard to try to help their local businesses.
Other businesses are not quite sure what the future holds for them. Will the move to spending online continue apace or is their likely to be a preference for face-to-face local shopping?
Will the office property market change now that more businesses are adopting new practices of part home-working and part-time in the office?
Will the desire for home-working change the jobs market and will job roles change as a result? There are so many unknowns.
We held a great meeting with Barrow Borough Council recently, online, as has become the norm! Barrow has like many areas had a really tough time over the last year or so, but there are things afoot which will help bring some extra support and regeneration to the area. The Town Deal has a range of projects attached as part of boosting the area through the £25m secured from that fund, and there are moves to try to attract more funding through other schemes too. We look forward to playing a role in helping to shape this support and making sure small businesses in Barrow and across the county can look forward to a much better future.
