Confidence among Plymouth’s SMEs is split with construction trades buoyant but hospitality and retail less upbeat, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
An FSB report, in January 2021, showed confidence had plummeted among South West business owners following the emergence of the Omicron Covid variant.
But Jonathan Keable, FSB lead for Plymouth, said the picture is more complex and that a lack of confidence in the region’s vast hospitality industry has skewed the picture.
He said small firms working in Plymouth’s construction industry, which includes the likes of bricklayers, plumbers and scaffolders, are busy at the start of 2022, and feeling upbeat, for example.
And, overall, despite missing out on the full benefit of the Mayflower 400 commemoration, Plymouth’s businesses are looking ahead to a prosperous 2022.
“There is positivity,” Mr Keable said. “We missed some chances with Mayflower 400, but were still able to bring SailGP to the city, and the Box and Barcode are great assets for the city.
“Under normal circumstances they would have increased the economy. Plymouth is going the right way and it was clever to put the Box and Barcode in the city centre, rather than out of town. I think Plymouth would have been on the verge of booming if not for the pandemic.”
Mr Keable said: “The trades are really strong, they are doing really well. The reason is that during the lockdown people had time to look at their properties, and now people are upgrading houses. There is also a keenness for people to adapt homes because they are working from home. That is helping the trades immensely.
“I have not come across anyone in the trades that does not say they are busy. Some have orders three months ahead, if not more.”
However, Mr Keable said the picture is different for customer-facing businesses in sectors such as hospitality, retail and beauty.
But he said businesses that did not stop trading during the enforcement lockdowns, but diversified and found new markets, have “come out stronger”.
“But those that shut down have not,” he said.
Mr Keable, who also runs his own small firm Business Success SW Ltd, said a major issue facing the booming construction trades is a shortage of skilled workers.
“It takes three years to train (these trades), so there is a three year trade gap,” he said. “The trades can only grow so far because they have not got the people that will come in and do the work.”
He added: “They also have a problem with supply of materials and prices are going up - by 40% in some places.
In January 2021, the FSB said the emergence of the omicron variant, fears of further Covid restrictions and rising costs all contributed to small business confidence plunging in the South West at the end of 2021.
Our quarterly confidence survey, conducted in the run up to Christmas 2021, revealed a fall of nearly 30% since the previous report in the autumn in business positivity amid concerns of what would happen with omicron and its effect on businesses and their customers. The report also saw the region become one of the least optimistic in the country for its 2022 prospects.
The FSB's regional policy representative, Craig Carey-Clinch, said the results were a stark reminder of the difficulties many small businesses throughout the South West face. “We hope this report will serve as a reminder to stakeholders in and outside of Government that they must continue to support, incentivise and invest in our small business community as we enter 2022. The South West’s SMEs have had so many issues to deal with over the past two years and have fought on valiantly, but they can’t do it alone.”
