Professor Martin Jones
Deputy vice-chancellor, Staffordshire University
IT CAN be difficult these days, when reading the news or watching TV bulletins, to find something to be positive about when it comes to the UK economy.
The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been felt across every sector. For employers it’s not only been a long hard winter but a rough autumn, summer and spring too.
One of Britain’s leading thinktanks, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the UK would be one of the weakest advanced economies in the first three months of 2021.
Earlier this month it was announced the UK economy in 2020 suffered the biggest fall since the ‘great frost’ of 1709.
The Office for National Statistics reported the economy shrank by a record 9.9 per cent in 2020 – with the buds of a recovery being slowed in the last three months of the year as the Government tightened restrictions to deal with a rise in Covid-19 cases nationally.
This came after a record plunge in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the first lockdown in 2020 and the overall decline in output during the year was more than twice as deep than in 2009 when the global financial crisis caused GDP to fall 4.1 per cent.
The frankly glum news prompted Bank of England deputy governor Andy Haldane to offer a glimmer of hope to cheer us all up. He described the UK economy as a ‘coiled spring,’ poised to bounce back quickly with consumer confidence expected to fire back in the spring as the vaccine programme rolls out further and restrictions are lifted.
Given how the events of the last 12 months have unfolded, it would be wise not to hold too firm to any prediction – however much we want it to be true. What we can be sure of is that our local businesses need our support now more than ever.
Long before the pandemic hit, Staffordshire University reaffirmed its commitment to the city, county and region, pledging to play a leading role in improving the regional economy and enhancing quality of life in local communities.
Our message to employers and entrepreneurs is a simple one – we are here to help you through this.
We have many ways of helping SMES survive and thrive beyond the pandemic and I’d encourage any local businesses in need of support to reach out to see how we can assist them.
For example, the university is running a Government-funded Small Business Leadership Programme that is being delivered online by Staffordshire Business School to help companies develop stronger leadership, innovation, operational efficiency, marketing and finance.
The Business School will have supported 70 businesses by the end of March and firms who have completed the programme have reported feeling better equipped to deal with the challenges they face.
The programme draws on the strength of our Business School academics alongside our Entrepreneurs in Residence who have vast experience of running their own small businesses and have first-hand knowledge of what businesses are going through.
In addition, the university has also developed a suite of free triage support to assist firms through the pandemic and to support employees in transitioning into new careers or Higher Education.