PRESENT:
Richard Slater, Lancashire Business View (Chair) Michael Dugdale, Trident Utilities David Dunwell, Lancashire Mind Ashley King, Financial Affairs Pete Norris, Allica Bank Iain Round, Beever & Struthers Accountants Dave Walker, +24 Kate Wallace, Burnley College
WHEN CHANGE IS IN THE AIR
We’ve seen many changes in the past year – new governments in the UK and USA, the first Labour Budget in a decade and a half. Changes to employment law and taxation are coming. We asked our Lancashire Business Day panel how they are looking to navigate all this uncertainty
Iain Round, Beever and Struthers Accountants
You’ve got to accept that there are things that are out of your control. As accountants we like to be in charge of
things and be organised, but we accept there are things that are going to happen and then we react to them.
A lot of changes are technical. Liaise with people in your team, especially the younger ones, to work out solutions to those changes and look for opportunities from them.
Any change is good for us as accountants. There are opportunities that come from them.
If I could make a change that would make life better for business in Lancashire it would be for the county to have a mayor. It definitely needs an Andy Burnham.
The devolution deal that’s gone through, it’s a start. It’s the first step in a long process but we need a Burnham to bang the drums nationally and internationally, to tell everyone what a great place Lancashire is to work and to live.
Kate Wallace, Burnley College
You have to roll with the changes. With the new government we know we are going to see a significant change with the introduction of Skills England
and how that body is going to change the apprenticeship market.
We see our role as navigating that change and supporting young people, parents, around that change.
It’s absorbing what those changes are going to look like and understanding them so we’re in a position to be able to support employers and their skills needs.
We have challenges when it comes to recruiting people able to deliver the skills in the area, competing against other industries and also sixth form colleges when it comes to pay.
I’d like to see a change to the systems and compliance processes to make it easier for businesses to be able to access training for their workforce, it’s major.
Pete Norris, Allica Bank
We have to embrace change because we’re trying to effect change. The way SMEs and business owners engage with banks is completely different now to what
it was 25 years ago when I first started at one of the ‘big four’.
From a change perspective, we are trying to bring back some of the old-fashioned values: the relationship manager, the people, being in front of clients while also embracing digitalisation and technology.
We’re supported by brilliant technological systems but we’ve got the old-fashioned feet on the ground people to go and see and speak to businesses.
Changes in customer behaviour creates a massive opportunity for us because there is more competition for businesses.
They’re not stuck with the big four, there are six, seven, eight competitors out there they can go to and get different ideas from.
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