Business in
Sussex 2016
A few months in to 2016 and the outlook for Sussex businesses
remains uncertain. What will happen as a result of the
referendum on Europe? Will the Chinese economy continue
to slide? What will happen if and when the oil price goes
below $30 per barrel? How will the global political landscape
impact international trade? These are issues which the
average business in Sussex can only but observe as the major
stakeholders on the international stage play the issues to a
conclusion. What is perhaps of far more relevance, is the selfinflicted problems here at home.
We are generally poor at exporting,
so growth and prosperity can only be
fuelled by UK sales, but as we see from
the Quarterly Economic Survey from the
British Chamber of Commerce (BCC),
manufacturing output remains static and
our recovery is mainly sustained by a
weakening service sector and buoyant
retail sales. All well and good for the
high street but other businesses are
still feeling the pinch and they wonder
whether the retail recovery can last if
we, the consumer, cannot continually
find savings and credit to sustain our
buying habits. And our government
doesn’t always help. The main thing
businesses want is stability and security
together with freedom from bureaucratic
meddling. Yet each seasonal statement
from the treasury seems to ladle on
more regulation, a more complicated
tax environment, pension demands and
more disincentives to grow a successful
business. We look on appalled as the
government’s emphasis and funding
finds its way to the northern powerhouse
and other regional “good causes”
while we suffer with lack of investment
in critical business and transport
infrastructure. It is fundamental for our
regional businesses to unify and state
our priorities to make sure they are heard
by local and central government alike.
Perhaps where government can help
the most is closing the gap between
the world of work and education. I
have had the privilege of judging the
small business section of the Sussex
Business Awards in 2015 where I had
the opportunity to look at thirty of our
small businesses (under £2M turnover
per annum) and to talk many of them.
All were a credit to their owners and
employees but it became clear to me
that a common theme was that our
educational institutions are not delivering
the skills, capabilities and aptitude that
businesses need, at least not without
a lot of training and conditioning from
day one before new recruits become
truly productive. This is not just an
issue for high technical skills but for all
grades, in sectors as diverse as freight
forwarding to removals. What seems to
be needed from our education system
is a rebalancing away from measures
relating solely to exam results and more
towards productive employment, and our
region’s businesses need to make this
view clear. The BCC are campaigning
for compulsory work placement and
more effective apprenticeships but
just when the message seems to be
hitting home, what do we get from
the treasury? A business tax to fund
apprenticeships when one could expect
that the education industry should be
supplying the right skills in the first place!
As Steve Smith, a very close business
friend of mine and advisor to the Bank of
England, reminded me as he shut down
his freight forward firm in Basildon after
20 years, “your people are the key, if you
can’t get the right people, working well
together, the business will fail”. He is now
testament to that prophecy.
Now, while we are scaring ourselves
over the uncertainty inflicting business
from sources both home and overseas,
I cannot ignore what I believe is the
biggest threat to the wellbeing of our
businesses - that of the threat of cyber
attack. Now, don’t just yawn at this point
and turn over as though it doesn’t apply
to you - it does apply, in every case, in
some way. Your business reputation
probably will depend on data and data
security (your own or someone else’s) so
you must do something about protecting
it. I was talking to an MD of an on-line
hotel booking firm recently and it had
not occurred to him that his business
was bust as soon as a public cyber
breach of his client data is published on
a public website. Who’s going to book
a hotel from that company afterwards?
Think Talk Talk and Ashley Madison and
see how quickly value can be wiped off
a company’s balance sheet. According
to our government’s 2015 information
security breaches survey, 74% of small
business and 90% of large organisations
has a s ecurity breach in the year. My
resolution for 2016 would be to seek help
on the most appropriate cyber security
response for your size of business
and think about doing the basics right
away through the government’s “Cyber
Essentials” accreditation scheme.
In summary, we have much to be
proud about in our region including
the innovation, creativity and the sheer
doggedness and resilience of our
businesses. The growth and wealth
they produce benefits us all through
the services they provide and the
employment they create. Let’s make
sure in 2016 we protect what we have by
making the right choices and ensuring
our voice gets truly heard by those with
power to create a more productive and
profitable environment, not least those
with influence within our own businesses.
B
y David Sheppard
Chairman, Sussex Chamber of
Commerce
101