The Covid-19 crisis has undoubtedly had a detrimental impact on the creative and digital sector.
From larger firms furloughing or asking staff to take pay cuts to small businesses that may never reopen, the effect of the deadly virus on the area's future is only starting to become clear.
Most have already been forced to make big changes to adapt, and Merseyside social enterprise Make Liverpool CIC looked to demonstrate how this can be done by holding its first online panel talk with business leaders from across Liverpool City Region.
In one of the first of the region’s discussion events like this to be held solely online since the coronavirus outbreak, Liam Kelly, CEO of Make welcomed panelists and dozens of attendees to the Zoom conference.
He said it was Make’s “first attempt at doing something meaningful in these strange times” - but that more will follow.
The first of the ‘Plugged In’ panel talks brought together business leaders to discuss the challenges and positive stories that have unfolded in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The event focused on themes surrounding some of the hardest hit sectors, including freelancers and self-employed, creative and digital sectors, and socially trading organisations.
Much of the discussion centred around the bleakness of the reality that many businesses and individuals face, however panelists did provide some glimmers of hope on how firms have responded to the unprecedented change.
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Panelist Alison McGovern, MP for Wirral South, commented on how the pandemic had prompted innovations that “stand us in good stead for the future”, even in taking discussions like this online.
She said that once the crisis subsides, “we need to really think about our labour market and what we want it to look like”, adding: “What kind of working structures do we want?”
Last week, Mashbo CEO Gavin Sherratt accused the Government of 'abandoning' SMEs - warning that many may only have a few months left.
Ms McGovern also posed further questions that the pandemic has raised for the future support systems in place for the self-employed.
“If we want to maintain some of the creativity and freedom that comes with being self-employed, how do we have a system that we all pay into that we can all share the benefits of that means that those people are supported?”
The changes we might see in the region once the coronavirus crisis ends was one of the overarching themes of the panel talks.
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Paul Corcoran, chief executive of Agent Marketing and vice-chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership and co-chair of the LCR Digital and Creative board, presented similar scenarios of how the pandemic could lead to positive change in how business leaders approach their plans.
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He said: “I think the positive bit is putting everything on the table and saying, ‘okay, what are people's ideas?’”.
He also raised questions he said that must be at the forefront of all business leaders’ minds, asking: “What will [the pandemic] mean for the way that we work? What will it mean for the way that we brainstorm?”.
Mr Corcoran highlighted the need for all business leaders to adapt, providing examples of using the remote working strategy to fuel innovation within Agent Academy, adding that being out of the office will “give our team the opportunities to come forward with ideas”.
He suggested that the crisis could drive innovation and encourage new ways of thinking as workers will have the “space that you don't normally when you're in the office and the phone is ringing”.
Insight and advice was also given for small firms and the self-employed.
Katie Peate, strategy director at growth consultancy Form, spoke about how there are various free resources developed by her firm available for small businesses to help them “survive, stabilise, and sustain” throughout the crisis.
She touched on a series of online resources published by Form such as one entitled “Navigating Uncertainty” - aimed at helping firms to take control “of your numbers, managing your cash, and planning for growth beyond the eye of the storm”.
‘We’re all in this together’
Throughout the session, one phrase emerged again and again - “we’re all in this together”.
That was best summarised by Ruth Hartnoll, founder of digital marketing agency J&R, who said anxiety about the future is “a universal feeling”.
She said: “One of the things that I've had to tell myself quite a few times is ’don't feel like everyone knows what they're doing’.
“I would say very few of us know what we're doing, and to be kind to yourself.”
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She later added that business leaders such as herself need to feel comfort that no one could have predicted the pandemic, and that companies must respond to the short-term as opposed to plan for the long-term, adding: “We've got a very short vision of the future at the moment, even though everyone's got really stringent business plans in place.”
Ms Peate said that although it’s difficult for some leaders to change their plans as “we're all emotionally invested in these businesses that we're building and we had certain visions”, firms should not “stubbornly stick to a plan if it doesn't work”.
Business leaders should be looking to “adapt it” - and not be afraid to take a “new approach [to] survive and sustain it in the circumstances we find ourselves in”, she said.
Panelists agreed that in these times of uncertainty, reaching out to others within the community to gain support is a good approach.
Mr Kelly said: "If you find yourself in [this] situation within a community, then turn to each other and turn to those leaders in that community for that support.
“It's better for us to deal with all these challenges together.”
He added that it's not proactive for businesses to operate with an expectation that trading can resume as it did previously, adding: “The world will go on and it will go on in a different way for sure but it will be a disaster for us all if everyone holds on [to their expectations] and doesn't try to innovate and do new things.”
Keeping office culture alive
Since the Government urged people who can work from home to do so, many offices and workspaces in the city region have been left empty or with a skeleton workforce in place.
Mr Corcoran said this has caused business leaders to consider how to keep a positive office culture going whilst colleagues work remotely.
He said it was important to be sure to use online communication platforms to keep working “face to face” in order to “see the whites of people's eyes” - and not just relying on email.
He said he encourages normality by keeping team building activities such as “end of week quizzes” - a sentiment echoed by Ms Hartnoll who said she had been forced to furlough two members of staff.
She said: “To help alleviate that pain we bought them PlayStation vouchers. I don't know if that's the best solution, to give them something to do whilst they're not working.”
She later said the move created a scenario where the firm could continue to interact by all playing online together, which for her was “a tiny win".
The positive effects the pandemic might have on working culture was summarised by Mr Corcoran, who said the crisis has proven that “culture prevails”, adding: “Having a really strong working culture is absolutely key to making sure that you work openly and honestly.”
He said it was important for leaders to take responsibility for leading a positive business brand and culture in these difficult times.
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“You know, we all have a responsibility that when we employ people, or when we take on a contract, that we do it with earnest and we do it with a sense of passion and a genuine commitment to do work and to look after people.
“I think we should always keep that at the very core of whatever we're doing, no matter how difficult it is.
“We should be looking at doing things in the right way, not just the best way for individuals.”
Tech lessons will change everything
Many workers have managed to successfully continue their jobs using digital technologies, with meeting apps such as Zoom having been downloaded 2.13m times around the world since social-distancing measures came into effect.
It’s now anticipated that the increased use of technology during this time will change how we work in the future.
Mr Corcoran said that through technology, the workplace has infiltrated homes even more.
"All of a sudden people's houses have transformed from a place where people go to spend time with loved ones into home offices,” he said, adding that it is essential that business leaders encourage their team to have “downtime” - and responsibility for “making sure that our teams are switching off their laptops [and] their emails”.
Mark Lawler, managing director of Baltic Creative, which provides space to creative and digital firms, said his business has been keeping connected with their tenants with daily updates - but has also taken other resources online including health and wellbeing initiatives.
He said Baltic Creative had worked with partners including the Chamber of Commerce in a bid to move more “of the content that we deliver” online over “the coming weeks and months”.
Ms Peate gave the panel information on how firms like hers have also moved to take events online in order to give workers from the digital, creative and tech communities a space “to unite ideas, strengthen strategies and connect with people”.
She said the online event ‘Gather’, which will be launching mid-April, is backed by the Growth Platform, combined authority and the Metro Mayor - meaning that it is “fully funded and no cost” to business.
Maggie O’Carroll, CEO of the Women’s Organisation, said technology is both a cause for good and bad, adding: "Already we're attached to our mobile phones and technology a bit too much anyway - is this going to absolutely explode beyond belief?"
She then suggested that for many individuals struggling with isolation, the same technology has also offered coping mechanisms as employers can encourage employees to take part in ‘Google coffee breaks’ where they do not discuss work or the “onslaught” of pandemic news.
Mental health matters
Uncertainty for health and job security has inevitably caused concerns surrounding mental health for affected workers, the panel heard.
Ms O’Carroll said: "People's mental health is going to be the collateral damage.
“The fact of the matter is it's odd for people not to have social contact [and] to be working behind screens.”
Mr Corcoran gave his personal experience of finding that no boundaries between work and home life is impacting his well being, adding: "I have an impending sense of guilt that I'm not doing enough when actually I can be [working from] quarter past eight and I can be on calls until 7.30pm and I can work at the weekends.”
He also voiced concerns over how isolation will impact mental health and wellbeing, adding that “we're all up and down” as “we're not seeing the people that we love or going to the places that we love”.
Mr Corcoran said it can be “extremely difficult”, adding that it’s therefore “absolutely key” to make sure we're all talking to each other.
He added that business leaders should be responsible for “driving up positivity” within their teams at a time that everyone is affected, but should remember to put their own “mask on first” to ensure they can offer the right form of communication in these difficult times.
Ms Hartnoll said it was the uncertainty of what the medium and long term will bring for her business that is keeping her up at night.
She said: “[It’s] thinking about what happens in four months [as] I think dealing with the next two months is actually quite reasonable and feels quite tangible.
“I think the thing that might be worrying a lot of people here on this seminar perhaps is ‘where do we come out of this?’”
She added that people who are finding it overwhelming need to “be kind” to themselves.
“Just getting up and getting dressed is a huge achievement and making time in your week to talk to people who are your peers and your colleagues is a great achievement.”
Challenging Policy
For small firms and the self-employed, their livelihoods have been left in the hands of policy makers, with new developments and support packages having been announced on multiple different occasions since the full impact of the outbreak hit.
Ms Carroll said: “A day is a long time in politics - these days every hour there's a changing dimension.”
She has previously campaigned on issues to help the self-employed, and added: "There's a whole swathe of individuals who have been left in limbo.
“We really need to look further than just Universal credit. We have been lobbying the Government to have a resource made available for loans for the registered self-employed - they should be paid the real living wage."
Mr Lawler said it was down to local authorities to address concerns surrounding businesses at the Baltic Creative, who depend on their funding.
He said: “It's really important that they protect the relationships that they've got with creative and digital businesses because, of course, many of the small businesses are dependent on the contractual relationships that they have in the city with these other bigger organisations, not least Universities, and the city council.”
Ms McGovern said that as part of the Treasury Select Committee, she had been speaking to trade unions, business sectors, and the third sector about what financial support is needed for those affected by the pandemic.
She now hopes the crisis will “fundamentally change and test many of the Treasury's assumptions about how it should support business and individuals in a downturn like this".
She also highlighted what she views as inadequacies of the furlough scheme - and that the original aim was “to keep people close to the labour market - to enable people to quickly rejoin that business”.
She added: "It would be against the interests of the scheme if the scheme is not flexible enough to allow businesses to help their staff keep in touch with the business."
She said anyone who is experiencing issues should contact their local MP and “make it someone else's problem and involve other people in your plan”, adding: “I've seen real tangible examples of where people have had challenging situations and have gone through them already so I'd get other people involved in the problem.”
By targeting the issues with the current policies in place, the Wirral South MP shared her thoughts that the crisis “is shining a very bright light onto our labour market and a social security system has basically been broken down over the past 10 years” - and that “now is the time to be rewriting the rules of that”.