Small businesses thinking big after Covid clobbering
PLAYDALE Playgrounds is leading the charge for British business as those on the Continent tread water.
Founded in 1978, the Cumbrian firm has 100 staff and has built 24,000 play areas in 51 countries.
Managing director Barry Leahey said: “During Covid we shut manufacturing for five weeks and at one point had 70 per cent of staff furloughed. But last year we were almost back to pre-Covid levels and this year we expect to grow by 15 per cent.”
Mr Leahey added: “I would say to people who don’t think they can trade internationally after Brexit, it’s a mindset. If you want to be a victim and come second then don’t start. If you want to be top of your game as a business then it’s like being an athlete – you have to put in the work.”
Across Europe, the suffocating
EXCLUSIVE
THOUSANDS of British companies predict rapid expansion now lockdown restrictions are over.
More than two thirds of small businesses expect to grow this year.
And re-energised firms are recovering faster – as expansion outstrips rivals in France and Germany.
Small and medium-sized businesses are the heartbeat of the economy, representing 61 per cent of UK jobs and 52 per cent of national income.
Analysis from accounting technology firm Sage shows they are not just surviving but thriving, despite doomsayers’ gloomy predictions about the impact of Brexit and Covid-19.
The removal of pandemic restrictions has left
68 per cent forecasting effects of minimal state aid is felt. German hotel association head Guido Zollick said: “Businesses are increasingly desperate. More and more fear for their existence.”
Sebastien Bazin, head of the hotels giant Accor, said the French hotel industry was on its knees.
And Sarah Pelegry, boss of La Fille de Margaret clothes shop in Toulouse, France, added: “Morale is very low for everyone.” growth this year compared with 57 per cent in Germany and 62 per cent in France.
And 43 per cent of UK firms expect a revenue rise in the next six months compared with 39 per cent in France and Germany.
Bosses also expect see an end to import and export problems this year, Half back issues easing, against just 27 per cent who fear they will get worse.
The UK remains the ninth largest manufacturing nation in the world, with annual output of £192billion.
One third of German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) said Covid-related issues were still the biggest threat they faced, compared
approach. We’ve made a decade’s progress in just two years and this investment will benefit these companies for years to come.
The confidence of the five million small businesses that are the backbone of our economy is remarkable and our research shows it is not something echoed as loudly across the Continent.
As a nation, we are blessed with a dynamic labour market, which means businesses were able to take advantage of schemes like furlough and Help to Grow.
This gave them the support they needed to navigate difficult times and, as we emerge from Covid, to look to the future positively.
However, we must not mistake
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Dean Barnes, regional director of the MGP, said: “We need to understand what industry wants and needs to grow.”
small business resilience for invisibility. The road ahead carries new threats in the form of rising costs and inflation rates. This is affecting businesses worldwide.
Our economic recovery depends on the success and survival of British businesses.
Bumpy
The Government can’t afford to overlook their importance. Small and mid-sized firms must be front and centre of decision making.
There is a bumpy road ahead, but our businesses will tackle it with a strong sense of confidence, even more so if they see the Government is by their side.
Jemma Crew
BABY boys in some parts of the UK are expected to live at least a decade less than those in other areas, figures show.
Infants under one in Glasgow City were expected to live 73.1 years – 11.6 fewer than those inWestminster, says the Office for National Statistics.
In five other areas – Dundee City, Blackpool, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and North Lanarkshire – the life expectancy gap was more than 10 years.
For girls, the gap between babies in Glasgow City (78.3 years) and Kensington & Chelsea (87.9 years) was 9.6 years.