Ramping up support for key industries impacted by the pandemic and helping to ease the debt burden faced by many businesses are among the requests made to government in a new report released today by Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.
‘The Final Hurdle? Areas for Urgent Action on Covid-19 Business Support’ is a new lobbying document produced by the Chamber which sets out actions that still been to be taken to help businesses survive and move forward from the pandemic.
Many of the recommendations in the report derive from stakeholder roundtables held with local SMEs, data from the Chamber’s Quarterly Business Report and anecdotal evidence from the wider membership. In the report, the Chamber urges government to:
· Offer continued and tailored support for the live events, travel and aviation industry
· Increase access to credit for a greater number of businesses and ease the debt burden that many firms are currently facing
· Encourage greater business investment in the areas of training, technology and sustainability
· Use the Fundamental Review of Business Rates to drive greater transparency and reduce business expense
· Make additional grant funding available for those businesses and individuals that have fallen through the cracks of Government support
· Take steps to alleviate the crippling cost pressures a number of businesses are still facing as a result of Covid-19
· Address the practical issues that businesses are facing in attempting to comply with self-isolation guidelines and workplace compliance
· Set out a robust blueprint for minimising the risk of future lockdowns
Henrietta Brealey, chief executive of the GBCC, said: “As national restrictions have continued to ease over the past few months and the vaccination rollout has continued at pace, there has been a notable increase in optimism across the wider business community.
“Despite the Prime Minister going ahead with Stage 4 of his plan to unlock the economy, case numbers are rising and there are still a number of businesses which are suffering from considerable economic hardship. As many of the statistics used in our latest report highlight, the intervention from Government has been unprecedented both in terms of the scale and monetary value.
“Of course businesses want to get back to a form of normalcy as soon as possible, but even more importantly, they cannot afford another lockdown. The recommendations made in this report are grounded in pragmatism and offer workable solutions to many of the immediate issues businesses are currently facing.
“The GBCC remains committed to continuing to connecting, supporting and helping local businesses to grow – in particular, will use this document as a basis for lobbying regional and national stakeholders to ensure the voice of local businesses is front and centre of this constantly evolving agenda.”
The report also highlights the impact of the ‘pingdemic’ in which many firms have been left with staff shortages due to self-isolation rules. It sets out a plan to protect small businesses who have been severely impacted and, in some cases, forced to close for up to a fortnight while staff self-isolate.
Head of policy Raj Kandola said: “We’ve seen a burst of economic activity over the last few months driven by rising levels of consumer spending as the roadmap for unlocking the economy has steadily progressed.
“However, the rate of economic growth is likely to be impacted if we continue see a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases as ultimately consumer spending will take a hit. The findings from our latest report also underline the precarious landscape many businesses are still operating in.
“That’s why it’s so important that the Government offer clear guidance to businesses on the actions they need to take in order to keep their employees and customers safe – a case we make throughout the course of this report.”
