For more than a year, FSB Wales has repeatedly made the case that businesses are struggling with the uncertainty created primarily by the pandemic, but also by Brexit and an incredibly volatile economic outlook. None of this is new.
As Wales emerges further from restrictions, business confidence is beginning to rebuild and with that, a more optimistic view from many of our members as to what the near future could hold.
However, these businesses still operate in a time of extreme uncertainty which is unsettling at best, and disruptive at worst. So how can this be mitigated in the near future and what action can be taken by all of us in Wales?
Business support has never been more important in Wales – Business Wales supported thousands of businesses last year whether by providing advice, signposting and by managing grant payments. However, the future funding arrangement for Business Wales is uncertain. Whilst the service might not be perfect, we’ve spoken to many businesses who feel that Business Wales has helped them to survive. The service has absolutely proven its role in Wales’ business support landscape and will be a vital part of our economic recovery as we move forwards.
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FSB Wales has made the case for some time that 海角视频 and Welsh Government must work together in order to ensure that Business Wales continues to receive at least as much funding as it currently does, and that the service is able to continue to operate as needed. Whilst the economic recovery is starting, it is still only the very early days and businesses will need the support infrastructure around them to ensure that they not only recover but get back to a position of growth and meet their ambitions for the future.
In the same vein, prior to the Senedd election FSB Wales called for the next Welsh Government to legislate in order to place the Development Bank of Wales on a statutory footing.
The Development Bank played a huge role over the last year – it was a major lender to SMEs in Wales that took on debt in order to survive and provided it is resourced sufficiently, will no doubt continue to be a significant part of the Welsh business landscape going forward. Without being on a statutory footing, however, businesses have no guarantee that the Development Bank will be there in the future.
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If the future of the Development Bank is in doubt, then there is no surety of a long-term future which makes it more difficult for businesses to plan. This is a question about the architecture of economic development – which is about much more than the economic recovery and about the long-term thinking on what kind of economy we want to develop here in Wales. We have an opportunity to really think about what we want our economy to look like in the coming years and to take action to support that. We all want a thriving, vibrant business community to emerge from the pandemic, but we must be prepared to ask ourselves the important questions about how we achieve that.
We hope that as the new Senedd term begins, the Economy Minister will come forward with an Economic Strategy that establishes the long-term future for Wales’ business support system, encompasses the Minister’s plans to accelerate the economic recovery in Wales, to move us to a place where businesses feel emboldened to pursue growth once again and which ultimately matches the ambitions of Wales’ business community.