Webinar report: After the Covid-19 war – a brighter future for East Midlands businesses

East Midlands businesses are on a war footing in the fight against Covid-19, but they have shown they are both adaptable and resilient – qualities that could lead to a brighter future ahead.

That was the message from the latest in our series of webinars in conjunction with Begbies Traynor, which discussed how business owners could navigate their way out of the lockdown fog and work towards a brighter future.

To watch highlights from the webinar, click here

Carolynn Best, partner at Begbies Traynor in the firm’s Leicester office said that, however, bleak things have seemed over the last two months, business owners need to look to the future with positivity, but that the picture differs across the sectors.

She said: “We are speaking to quite a lot of businesses in the retail and the leisure and sector. Business owners there are really just biding their time and using the assistance from the government in terms of the furloughing and grants, and trying to see what’s going to happen next in terms of how we’re going to come out with this situation.

“And we’re seeing a lot of businesses putting a positive spin on the current situation rather by diversifying their business to try and generate income. For example, PPE for key workers or distributing food and to those in need, and restaurants providing a delivery or collection service and just trying to get through this period.

“I think all businesses can do really to look to the future positively is trying to continue to use the the media channels available to keep in touch with people and to keep their businesses out there, keep in touch with clients, suppliers and employees.”

Julie Palmer, regional managing partner at Begbies Traynor, warned that while there was a supportive atmosphere at the the moment, at some point business owners will start to ask how they can gain an advantage on their counterparts.

She said: “The whole environments very supportive of us at the moment. My view about this is it’s a little bit like surviving the war. While the war’s in place, everyone goes into survival mode and does everything they can; I think the real test comes like with a war when you begin to emerge from it. And I think then as everybody else stops looking a bit more to help other people and actually thinking, what do I need to do to help myself at the moment?”

Martin Buttress, partner at Begbies Traynor’s Leicester office, said that firms are hording cash to get through the crisis, as debtors extend their payment times.

He said: “Cash control is something is going to be incredibly important during the period of lockdown. I think for businesses, wherever possible, I’d kind of recommend looking at a cash flow forecast possibly on a weekly basis as opposed to potentially previously doing them on a monthly basis. It’s
also probably going to be better looking at a 13 week period for cash flow forecast, so you can understand where the peaks and troughs in the cash is going to come.

I think in terms of cash,businesses need to be looking at the various help that’s available, looking at the things like the rates relief, and the local authority grants, and taking advantage of deferring current quarter’s VAT – all of these things will help to ease cash at this moment in time.

“And I think we need to preserve cash until such time as we have a clear exit strategy. Is it going to be by sector at this moment in time? We just don’t know. And I think there are opportunities to speak to HMRC defer other tax liabilities as well as considering time to pay arrangements, sot hat you can then stretch payments, maybe over a three to 12 month period, all of which will ease cash flow in the short term, until such time as businesses can start getting back up to something like the previous normal.”

For Palmer, the crisis has shown that business owners have the ability to weather any storm.

She ended by saying: “I think that what the crisis really shows is how entrepreneurial and robust many of these UK businesses are. We desperately rely on these entrepreneurs to kickstart the economy. And the positive way that many businesses have reacted to this crisis, I think shows that we know we do have a good news story coming out of this if we apply the same degree of positivity and opportunity I think we will bounce back – whether it’ll be months or years. Who knows what the future will look like, but I think businesses have shown that they’re both resilient and adaptable.”