For a lot of small businesses, the COVID pandemic was a difficult time. Not only did it disrupt work and how people did business, but it also meant fewer sales and higher costs. However, there has been a surge in confidence over the past few months of 2021. Let’s find out why UK business confidence has grown and how companies should help keep it going.
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Lifting of COVID Restrictions
Over the past few months, there has been a relaxing of COVID restrictions across the UK. For many business owners, this has meant that they can start trading again or begin to welcome their staff back to the office.
Many in the hospitality sector recorded a flurry of people coming back to restaurants and bars. However, for other companies, the prevalence of online shopping on lockdown meant some preferred this to go into shops.
If your company isn’t currently trading online, then this could be the best way to keep your sales going and grow your business.
Employee Perks
Because many people lost their jobs during the pandemic, there was a surge in the job market to hire people after the restrictions.
This caused some companies to offer perks to recruit new staff including business life insurance for employees. These types of incentives have made a significant difference to some companies being able to hire and retain staff.
More Remote Working
For those businesses that we’re able to have staff working from home, the pandemic was less of a hit to their sales and growth. However, now that restrictions are lifted, many firms want their employees to return to the office.
This has caused some concern for a percentage of employees who have preferred the less stressful option of being at home.
With the risk that these workers may leave to find remote work elsewhere, companies should weigh up the pros and cons of keeping this flexibility in their company.
Staying Flexible
Although the COVID restrictions are currently relaxed, there is every possibility that further spikes could force more tightening of restrictions again.
For those businesses that want to ride these waves, it is a good idea to keep your staff and production as flexible as possible.
This could mean keeping your workforce at home on remote working, or adopting a hybrid system so that future restrictions don’t affect the company as much.
It may also involve keeping your workforce lean, especially if there is no reintroduction of the furlough scheme in the future.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there is no doubt that the UK and many other countries are not out of the woods yet. Further restrictions and lockdowns may happen, and businesses need to be ready to react – especially with the threat of the new Omicron variant.
With customers also adapting to new ways of shopping, it is more important than ever that companies embrace technology and try to find their customers wherever they are.
Thus, by adapting and changing to meet new challenges, businesses can learn to survive and even flourish in the future, futureproofing their businesses and processes in the face of uncertainty.
