The Big Conversation: setting the Midlands on course for recovery

AMANDA DOREL, MIDLANDS REGIONAL DIRECTOR, SME BANKING AT LLOYDS BANK

As businesses look to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we asked the question: what does the Midlands need for its recovery?

At Lloyds Bank we knew we didn’t have all the answers. So we decided to ask businesses about the challenges they’re facing as they deal with the economic effects of Covid-19. We wanted to convene a series of expert conversations, bringing together businesses and industrialists to agree how best to address recovery in the region.

Our latest research shows that cautious optimism is returning to the Midlands, despite overall confidence remaining at a low ebb. So it was heartening to see that relative positivity when we brought together companies from the Midlands as part of a series of virtual events called

The Big Conversation to consider critical areas of support needed to help rebuild the local economy. Forty-four per cent said their business had grown more innovative since the start of the crisis and 37 per cent reported an increase in resilience in recent months.

A good illustration of that business resilience was provided by Clive Vickers, owner of the Halfpenny Green wine estate in Staffordshire. He explained how the business had shifted its retail operation towards online sales, while the new safety protocols it has brought in have helped it return to 80 per cent of its precrisis operating levels.

Daniel Shook, group finance director of manufacturer IMI, explained how his business had stepped up production of the valves used in ventilators from 2,000 per week to 23,000 per week to help provide the NHS with enough units to care for coronavirus patients.

The significant changes that companies have been making were also highlighted by Lucie Byron of law firm Wright Hassall, who said her firm had been helping clients understand and, in many cases, renegotiate their key financial relationships.

We’ve already supported many Midlands firms through our own £2bn Covid fund and Government loan schemes, but we know that recovery goes beyond financial help.

With this event we began a journey to understand the challenges identified by our business community, from export issues to the creation of regional growth funds. We look forward to working with that community, and all those who are prepared to stand with us in support of business in the Midlands.