There was a proverb, years ago, inscribed over the fireplace of an old Bedfordshire pub: ‘Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No-one was there.’
It’s a reminder that, in times of turmoil, it’s possible to find the inner strength to face down adversity. But it’s also important for businesses to remember that it’s often equally possible to spot opportunity in that adversity – and that it’s critical to remain alert to the upside so you don’t miss it when it presents itself.
Indeed, as our Chairman Richard Cooper recently wrote in Focus magazine, despite today’s challenging trading conditions, he has seen several new start-ups launch in the last few weeks alone, with new products and specialist services.
Is this just ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’? There’s an element of that in any entrepreneurial undertaking. But there are also genuine signs that the coming year potentially holds hidden promise for businesses forearmed with the right knowledge and the right connections, despite the wider economic issues.
Here are a few examples of what’s on our radar for the year ahead.
Business rate exemptions
In addition to the business rates support worth £13.6bn announced in the Chancellor’s autumn statement, April 2023 will see the introduction of new financial support for investing in plant and machinery used in on-site renewable energy generation and electricity storage, in the form of a business rates exemption until 2035.
At the same time, a new 100% improvement relief will free businesses for 12 months from higher business rate bills caused by qualifying improvements to an existing property.
It looks like a win-win on many fronts: more energy-efficient operations, smaller bills, a reduced carbon footprint, and a genuine financial incentive to upgrade and/or expand buildings and facilities.
Lower energy costs
Not a scheme as such, but an urgent opportunity that has been identified by commentators in the industry, is the Green Window. The idea that the Government’s six-month energy price protection plan for businesses, which extends into 2023, can behave as a kind of ‘bridging grant’, enabling businesses to invest what they have saved or recouped during that period into greener energy tech.
The attraction here is not just environmental, although that undoubtedly plays a part. Green energy technology’s efficiency also makes it cheaper to run, now and in the future. Solar panels, for example, can deliver 25% more energy than they could previously, and they pay back quicker, and air source heat pumps are up to 500% more efficient than gas boilers, and typically last twice as long.
The Green Window might not come with a Government rubber stamp, but it will certainly seem a real enough upside to businesses agonising over how they will manage energy costs in 2023.
Rebalancing high street retail
If your business is bricks-and-mortar retail of any kind, things were getting tough for you long before the pandemic, with a huge customer shift towards online retail and a steep decline in footfall in many physical shopping areas.
The autumn statement suggested the online sales tax could be scrapped to help online retailers meet the cost of business rates on warehouses, and while there was additional support for the high streets in the form of freezes and reliefs on business rates, the tax system does often seem skewed against bricks-and-mortar retail.
There is some rebalancing to do, but what that will look like – in other words, how it will apply to businesses of different sizes, and how it will take into account high street businesses’ own (often modest) online sales operations – is not clear.
Nonetheless, an attempt to level the playing field is something smaller retail businesses would welcome after several years of struggling.
Grants widely available
It’s often perplexing how supposedly depleted national coffers can produce all manner of financial stimuli for business in an economic downturn but produce them they do – with plenty on offer in 2023, if current form is anything to go by.
In fact, there are around 150 grants listed in sector publications as available for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with some geographic and other caveats attached, but covering everything from innovation to trade shows, to low-emission vehicles, to productivity and business growth.
Connect to succeed
Of course, both adversity and opportunity bring an additional challenge: choosing the best course of action in response, and without the right support that can be very difficult.
This is why, in 2023, Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce plans to significantly grow our peer-to-peer and Member2Member networks, add to our already significant library of webinars and resources on exporting, grants, and funding, and generally connect businesses in our region to more opportunities to see, engage with, and exploit the upside.
To cite Richard Cooper in Focus once again, the majority of businesses still believe in their offering, even though they are having to work harder to deliver it.
For belief, read faith. And the fear is gone.
For more information on how Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce connects its SME members to the upside in trying times, visit their website or call 01582 522448
