Firms should harness their strengths to get through, says expert

The Courier and Press and Journal host virtual business breakfast

Businesses should rely on their resilience and expertise to help them through the coronavirus pandemic, a leading Scottish economist said yesterday.

Professor Graeme Roy, director at Fraser of Allander Institute, was talking at The Courier and Press and Journal’s first virtual business breakfast, which took an in-depth look at how the local and national economies can emerge from the global pandemic.

He said it is too early to say if Scotland will be more significantly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak but it is possible due to the impact felt by the oil and gas sector.

Prof Roy joined Deloitte’s senior economist Debapratim De and RBS Mentor Services director Kevin Connor.

Prof Roy said: “Scotland has in the past been quite resilient but the challenge to the oil and gas industry is particularly significant at this point in time both because of the global recession and because of the oil price.

“It’s easy to focus on the doom and gloom and not to downplay it because there are some major challenges, but there are also opportunities.

“The strengths that have supported the north-east economy in terms of entrepreneurship, its strong business base and the high value of its institutions like its universities and colleges will still be there – it’s about how you harness that to support digital working.”

A fresh wave of coronavirus would have “significant” effects on public finances if a second lockdown was required, the business breakfast heard.

Mr De said: “If we do see a second wave of infections, for us to go back to the kind of lockdown we have seen in March and April, it would need to be quite a significant spike.

“It looks as though from interventions from other emerging markets now, and in Asia, that you can actually create confinement zones once you have identified localised outbreaks and have very, very localised lockdowns.”

Mr Connor added: “A second wave is clearly a concern. What’s of more of a concern is a localised outbreak as there are certain business sectors where the environment would allow for the virus to spread more easily and such a localised outbreak could be catastrophic for the firm.”

A recording of the Business Breakfast can be found at dctevents.com

“Scotland has in the past been quite resilient but the challenge to the oil and gas industry is particularly significant. PROFESSOR GRAEME ROY

Professor Graeme Roy, director at Fraser of Allander Institute.