The Big Conversation: setting the South West on course for recovery

DAVID BEAUMONT, SOUTH WEST 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 South West 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.

While our latest research shows firms’ confidence in the region is the lowest in the UK, it is not all doom and gloom in the South West.

More than a quarter of firms represented at the South West’s Big Conversation – a virtual event to consider the critical areas of support needed to help rebuild the local economy – said they are more innovative and resilient than they were six months ago.

A great example of this was shared by Theo Backhouse, founder of regional house builder Backhouse, who spoke about his experiences.

His business was disrupted significantly when it closed their construction sites in the face of rising infections earlier this year, but, as a young business with cloud-based systems and laptops, the team was able to flex quickly to keep working from home. This meant its sites could reopen efficiently, with the required social distancing measures in place, once testing was available to construction workers and infections were falling in May.

Theo is looking to the future with optimism. He says people’s priorities for their homes have changed – thanks to more people working from home – and design-led house builders such as Backhouse are well placed to capitalise on this.

Although more muted in his optimism, the owner of Penventon Park Hotel, Aaron Pascoe, agreed that the tourism sector needs to create new opportunities especially given ongoing disruption to international travel and with a rise in appetite for staycations.

We’ve already supported many South West 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 specific challenges identified by our business community, from investing in digitisation or exporting for the first time. We look forward to working with that community, and all those who are prepared to stand with us in the support of businesses in the South West.