Brexit preparations have inevitably been hit by the recent pandemic, what is the overall effect on the business community likely to be? Lockdown had a devastating eff ect on business, everyone had to react quickly and fi nd a new way of running their companies. T e worry now is that the support that was provided, the furlough scheme and govern- ment grants, are going to come to an end and that is when we will see businesses face their real challenges. Cash fl ow is a major problem. Our latest membership survey shows that only around 30% of fi rms are working to full capacity. T at is up on the fi gures in March and April, when it was only 16%, so a defi nite improvement, but it’s still a cause for concern. We still have the threat of local lockdowns, which, together with the ending of the support schemes and the fi nal weeks of the Brexit transition period, are going to create some anxiety. But the business community is very resilient and has shown itself to be agile and fl exible. Many fi rms are reviewing their business models and looking at new ways to work and most will fi nd a way, and we will do our best to be there to support them.
What practical means of support are there? Funding and grant schemes are announced periodically but are mas- sively oversubscribed. Our aim is to keep members up to date on what is coming up and help them decide whether it’s appropriate to them, and so give them the best possible chance of securing valuable funding. Together, we can help make schemes such as Kickstart work. T is
ALL THINGS BUSINESS
off ers fi nancial support for businesses who take on young people between the ages of 16 and 24, but it is only available where there are 30 or more placements available. T at is, of course, untenable for most small businesses, but by acting as an inter- mediary, the Chamber is setting up a scheme where we can bring enough businesses together to meet that target, so that even those who only need one or two placements can benefi t from the scheme.
If you were to sum up the benefits of Chamber membership, what would you say? It is so important that we have a network of busi- nesses that are keen to support one another. T e Chamber sees itself as a conduit for businesses to come together, work together and to make sure that their issues are at the forefront of the changing landscape. We do the hard work on that, so that they don’t have to – we see ourselves as a critical busi- ness friend and fi rmly believe that we are stronger together.
Find out more about Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce at
www.chamber-business.com
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