Whilst there was no change in those (51%) who said ‘a little’ there has been a signifi cant shift, a fall from 27% to 24%, in those who have not been aff ected and an increase from 9% to 18% of businesses being impacted ‘quite a lot’. Again, this perhaps underlines the longer impact of COVID upon businesses than originally anticipated. Many of our conversations with manufacturing and engineering entities initially concentrated on the supply chain, and many businesses talked about shortening that in order to safeguard supplies. Our question was whether businesses would be changing their supply chain. Our respondents’ views have seen a signifi cant shift over the last


six months. In our last report, 65% said ‘no’ and 32% said ‘a little’. T is time, only 45% said ‘no’ and 43% said ‘a little’ perhaps indicating that the supply chains have not been as robust as was initially envisaged or, perhaps the impact of the Brexit deal has been seen more starkly. The role of Government has been, and continues to be,


unprecedented in peace time in terms of providing various types of state aid, so we asked how well manufacturing and engineering entities felt that they had been supported by Government during the pandemic. Views in the centre ground have remained virtually unchanged


over the last six months, where 45% felt that the Government had done enough. T e furlough scheme, in particular, was described by a respondent


as invaluable and around 28% felt that Government could do more with some form of rates relief appearing in various of the comments in this regard. T e change in responses to this question has appeared at perhaps


the extremes of the answers, with only 13%, as opposed to 21%, feeling that the Government’s response has been ‘fantastic’ and 10%, as opposed to 5% answering, when asked if they felt supported by the Government, ‘not at all’. In terms of the impact of a Brexit deal, we asked respondents if


they have had to change business practices as a result of the Brexit agreement. Perhaps not surprisingly the response was ‘yes’ from 61% of respondents, particularly in terms of additional paperwork. Various respondents commented that the lateness of the deal had left them little time to prepare and that none of HMRC, couriers


ALL THINGS BUSINESS


or freight carriers appeared to know what was required, certainly initially. Many also commented on the cost of this, whether that be in time completing paperwork declarations for which they could not charge, delays in materials being supplied and exports clearing the ports, and the cost implicit in this, or some goods being diverted around the UK’s borders. T is is a point that we feel needs to be monitored and addressed by Government. As a follow up to this we asked whether


businesses had seen friction or obstacles as a result of the Brexit agreement when trading with the EU or with Northern Ireland, and 56% said ‘no’. So, what can we conclude from these responses? Clearly it is evident, and to some degree not


unexpected, that the pandemic, combined with Brexit, has changed manufacturing and engineering businesses’ continued transition to a ‘new normal’. T e ability of manufacturers and engineers to pivot has been much in evidence and the continued review and strengthening of supply chains is important. However, the impact on businesses of COVID


has been more signifi cant than was fi rst thought. T e role of Government has been unprecedented and with the measures announced in the last Budget we continue to see this signifi cant support into businesses from the pandemic. That said, there has been well-publicised


disruption and cost from the Brexit agreement and, more recently, raw material and labour shortages that have aff ected many manufacturers and engineers so as 2021 unfolds the challenges continue for this vital section of our economy.


For more information about MHA MacIntyre Hudson visit www.macintyrehudson.co.uk or www.bakertillyinternational.com


11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44