Twelve months since companies around the 海角视频 went into lockdown, most are still feeling the effects of a year like no other.
Figures compiled by the North East England Chamber of Commerce show that at the height of the first lockdown, more than 190,000 people in the region were on furlough as companies relied on Government support to keep going.
More than 45,000 companies sought Government loans - sharing almost £1.75bn. Thousands of companies went bust, and of those that have survived, more than 40% of firms in the North East have no or less than three months of cash reserves.
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While some companies have thrived - particularly in areas like technology and healthcare - sectors like hospitality, culture and aviation have been particularly hard hit.
Now businesses around the North East and further afield are waiting to see how the Government’s lockdown roadmap improves their fortunes, but also how many challenges are now baked in to the post-Covid economy.
We have spoken to six businesses from a range of sectors to see how they have coped over the last year.
Sage Gateshead
Sage Gateshead lost 60% of its income overnight and a further 20% was heavily impacted when the 海角视频 was plunged into lockdown last year.
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The projected loss stood at £10m and to survive, management had to make tough decisions.
The music centre has tapped into emergency finding, including £2.8m from the Culture Recovery Fund, and furloughed 90% of staff, including orchestral musicians. But 117 staff had to be made redundant as the pandemic has kept performance venues closed.
The centre launched a three-year Crisis Recovery Renaissance plan and it has has adapted how it interacts with audiences. Sage Live 2020 was two weekends of ticketed live, streamed, and then online-only performances. Christmas Cracker was a free one-off online concert featuring some of the region’s most illustrious musicians and rising stars, including Sam Fender and Martha Hill.
Creative Learning is an online initiative that has seen 6,610 online sessions delivered since March last year.
Now the Sage is moving into the recovery stage of its plan, which will include realising a new vision for the Royal Northern Sinfonia, establishing a hub where artists can create, collaborate and develop, and investing in digital equipment so people can connect with performers and music in new ways.
Fraser Anderson, director of external relations and strategic development at Sage Gateshead, said: “We know the North East has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. As a consequence, it needs a well-co-ordinated and long-term approach to recovery.
“Our aim for the next five years will be to play a useful and active role in recovery and in setting a new course for our region to thrive.”
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Apartment Group
The last year has had a devastating effect on the hospitality sector with bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels and cafes keeping their doors closed for months on end.
The Apartment Group, owner of some of Newcastle’s most popular bars as well as a string of hotels and wedding venues in Northumberland and further afield, has keenly felt the impacts of the pandemic.
The group closed all of its venues and had to make more than 400 people redundant. The closures also impacted on its many food and rink suppliers
Chief operating officer Debrah Dhugga said: “At the start of the pandemic there was no furlough and no Government support, so we had to make around 400 redundancies and lost a lot of great talent.
“Keeping in touch with the 80 who remain has been so important - for people in this industry their work is also their social life, so colleagues are your friends.
“Right now we are crazy busy, getting ready to reopen and it’s a little bit like starting the business from scratch because we are bringing in lots of exciting changes and working closely with the council on some of them.
“The pandemic has also created some opportunities. Within the space of a week in Jesmond we opened a new brand, the Beach Box - that never would have happened, and yet now we’re expanding that brand.
“We have to be positive but we also have to be careful. I know that people just want to get out and see everyone again - everyone is saying it will be the ‘roaring twenties’ - but it’s also quite scary so everyone in the industry will be on tenterhooks.”
ScS
The chief executive of Sunderland furniture chain ScS had been set to retire at the start of this year after more than 30 years with the firm.
The arrival of the pandemic, however, led to David Knight pausing those plans to steer the firm through unprecedented times.
Its 100 stores closed their doors when lockdown arrived, and were forced to again over the key Christmas trading period.
But the Wearside firm ended up benefiting from the pandemic. With the majority of people stuck at home, not going out or spending money on holidays, many were in the market for sprucing up their homes.
As online sales boomed, the company created 300 new jobs to cope with demand.
Mr Knight, who will now retire in July, said: “It’s been interesting. I think we were very fortunate in that we entered into this horrible situation in a strong position, with strong cash and no debt, and our priority was our customers and our team, making sure they felt safe and secure and also continuing to support them on 100% of their salary on furlough. And we’ve made great use of the time in lockdown to look at our processes, training and development of the business.
“I think I can honestly say the business has never been in better shape.”
Living and working in the 'new normal'
Bradley Hall
The first national lockdown left city centres virtually deserted and devoid of office workers - how Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham will look when lockdown is eased has yet to be seen.
Not surprisingly, total office take-up across the Big Nine cities of the 海角视频, which includes Newcastle, was 33% down last year according to Avison Young’s 2020 report.
By the end of the year, Newcastle was starting to buck that trend and ended being just 8% down, as firms took the time to move, downsize and invest in making offices Covid-friendly.
The Bradley Hall group, based in Newcastle but with offices across the region, said it initially feared that the forced closure of ‘non-essential’ offices would have a lasting, negative impact on the sector.
But managing director Neil Hart said: “The more time that passes under restrictions, the more obvious it becomes that offices are essential not only to benefit business growth and client needs, but for staff members too. Nuffield Health recently revealed that 80% of our population feel that working from home has had a negative impact on their mental health.
“I feel it’s essential for city centre offices to adapt in order to attract and maintain occupants - they are vital as a foundation of our city centre’s economy.
“The office sector is undoubtedly changing and it remains vital for modern working environments to provide safe and flexible spaces - and the lack of office working has made many businesses recognise that collaboration is key to growth.”
Aspire Technology Solutions
Gateshead tech firm Aspire Technology Solutions last year won the North East Company of the Year award and has been kept busy during the pandemic.
After moving its staff to remote working just before lockdown, the firm - which specialises in connectivity, managed services and infrastructure solutions - set about helping the rest of the North East get connected.
On average, Aspire’s support team resolve around 1,500 weekly service requests but from mid-March 2020 the company saw this jump to almost 2,000 per week. It also helped more than 10,000 workers to transition from office to home, in just a matter of weeks.
Chris Fraser, managing director, said the company was lucky in terms of the impact it experienced, and vowed to help others in other ways by making charity donations.
And though the past year has show there can be many benefits to a remote working environment, Aspire is still keen to get into its new HQ at the Pipewell Quay office development.
Mr Fraser added: “The power of technology to allow us to connect and collaborate has never been more evident, nor more important as it is now.
“Reflecting on the past year, 海角视频 businesses should be immensely proud of how they have adapted to extremely challenging times. Despite the unparalleled change to all of our lives, business has continued to get done.”
Nourish Bud
Just days after Rebecca and Luke Tonks launched their vegan food business in March last year, the 海角视频 was plunged in its first nationwide lockdown.
The couple’s dream of cornering the corporate market with vegan lunch deliveries seemed to have been shattered before it started.
But 12 months on, Newcastle-based Nourish Bud is about to implement ambitious growth plans.
A combination of luck and planning – the Tonks are both qualified chartered accountants who worked for EY – has helped the duo navigate their way through probably the most difficult economic period the nation has faced.
Unable to rely on office workers to keep Nourish Bud going, the company quickly pivoted to home deliveries.
The pair now deliver to customers from Newcastle to Teesside and are hoping to expand into Leeds and York.
Mr Tonks said: “When everything was closed down we didn’t panic; we were very level headed, thought about what we could do, and saw an opportunity with home delivery. We still had a core product and we reasoned there would still be people who wanted what we were offering.
“We may have lost out on corporate customers, which was our original plan. But on the flip side, we have gained domestic customers and a huge amount of experience.”
Mr Tonks believes a crisis can create entrepreneurial opportunities and give small companies a chance to thrive. “For small businesses, it can be an opportunity. For us, the pandemic has made people more health-conscious and aware of what they eat,” he said.