CHAMBER NEWS


Enhancing our communities


Enterprising Women continues to connect


Enterprising Women has hosted two very successful and well attended webinars over recent months to support our members throughout the Covid-19 crisis. The team have been delighted


with the positive response and engagement and are keen to continue to connect and support our members virtually in the coming months. It has also been great to catch


up with our sponsors including leading businesses Hastings Direct, Derby College, Smallman and Son, Leicester Racecourse, Leicester Tigers, The Belmont Hotel, Pick Everard and Futures Housing Group, along with our supporters Cross Productions, Mercia Image Print and Purpose Media. It was fantastic to get everyone back together to brainstorm future events and hear the work each are doing to support their employee’s during this challenging period. We want to reassure all


Enterprising Women members that we are still very much on hand as a group to provide both guidance and connectivity and encourage both new and existing members to continue to get involved. Our next webinar will be held


on Thursday 25 June and will focus on the topic of ‘Facing Adversity’. We will be welcoming previous Enterprising Women Awards winner and finalist Jillian Thomas, Managing Director of Future Life Wealth Management. Jillian will be discussing how she has overcome many hurdles within both her career and personal life yet continued to grow her business through the hard times. Stay safe, stay well and make


time for you. We look forward to seeing you all very soon. Best wishes, Jean and Eileen Co-chairs of Enterprising


Women


To keep up with Enterprising Women’s online programme, please visit www.emc- dnl.co.uk/connecting- you/enterprising-women


20 business network June/July 2020


While evidence of the impacts of the ongoing coronavirus on business is becoming more apparent, it’s harder to assess the potential effects this is having on our communities. Chris Hobson (pictured), the Chamber’s Director of Policy and External Affairs, takes a closer look at the issue and explains how the Chamber is shaping its response.


Although the Chamber is primarily a business support organisation, it has a vision to ‘enhance East Midlands Business and Communities’. Our accompanying goals make clear our aim to promote businesses as being a positive force for the communities in which they are based. These communities are incredibly


diverse in terms of their history – including former coal-mining sites or industrial hubs – and their make- up, with parts of the region being among the most ethnically diverse within the whole country. The region also has one of the


fastest ageing populations and one of the most rural populations out of all UK regions. This means there can be no ‘one-


size fits all’ approach to supporting business and community interaction. The whole of the country now


faces significant challenges from the health, social and economic impacts of Covid-19. Some of these – particularly


health-related issues – are very immediate, while others will develop and become clearer over the coming weeks and months.


POTENTIAL COVID-19 IMPACTS The Bank of England has predicted a 25% contraction in the UK economy in Q2 2020, with the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting 35%. Such a slowdown would


represent a fall three times greater than during the financial crash in 2008 and, although much will depend on the future direction of Government interventions such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, will undoubtedly have impact on employment levels. As it stands, the Bank has predicted an increase in UK


The Chamber’s Celebrating Communities and Culture event was held earlier this year


unemployment levels to between nine and ten per cent, up from 3.8% in the first quarter, and since 16 March, almost two million people have signed up to receive Universal Credit support. In terms of recovery, much will


depend on how national and international politics plays out over the coming months and any potential secondary spikes in the pandemic. Looking solely at the East Midlands, due to our high proportion of the workforce in manufacturing as well as significant leisure and hospitality sectors, it has been suggested that the region may be among the worst hit by an economic slowdown. Already, there are high profile


stories suggesting redundancies at anchor employers, while Chamber members are reporting difficulties and potential insolvencies. Regardless of what the final


figures are, such increases in unemployment and lost economic growth will have a significant impact on communities within the East Midlands. Those out of employment will include skilled individuals – potentially jobless for


‘Increases in unemployment and lost economic growth will have a significant impact on communities within the East Midlands’


the first time – and there will likely be business failures in many parts of the region. While it is hoped that the


recovery will be relatively swift in historic terms, all individuals impacted will face difficulties they wouldn’t have been anticipating before the pandemic. In terms of recovery, the economy coming out of the pandemic will likely look different to that beforehand, with an increased emphasis on things such as automation, advanced logistics and manufacturing and clean technologies – all of which may require a level of retraining and upskilling. Current sources of public sector


funding will likely be redirected or refocused to respond to the issues. Private sector funding is also


likely to be restricted as organisations reshape and invest in new technologies, training and business models. While for the long-term, the


region’s prospects remain strong, in the short- and medium-terms there will be challenges for the community agenda that will need to be responded to. The challenge will be to shape our activity to respond to the growing within both businesses and communities, the temporary nature of some of the challenges, and the changing way in which activity may be supported.


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