Last week I discussed the pressure Scottish companies are under thanks to the often punitive business rates that have made competition and in many cases, basic survival, a sadly unsustainable prospect.
Since then, we have had a new budget delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak that, while being primarily driven by the developing Coronavirus pandemic, has far-reaching implications for the future of our industries.
The first third of Sunak’s speech was very much focused on the health crisis and rightly so, with a pledge of £30bn upfront to the NHS and on measures to protect businesses and workers. We are still in the very early stages of this outbreak, even on a global level, but particularly here in Scotland. The news and information we are receiving seems to change on not just a daily basis, but an hourly one.
In the short time that it takes between me writing this column and it seeing print, the business and social landscape will undoubtedly have altered dramatically again. Naturally the most important thing in all of our minds is the health and wellbeing of not just our friends and family, but the entire country and beyond. That’s a given. Once you get past that though, the ramifications of the Coronavirus on our businesses could be catastrophic, which is why I was pleased to see at least some action being taken to mitigate the impact in Sunak’s budget, at least down south.
Already we are seeing all sporting events being cancelled, concerts and events postponed until further notice, holidays kicked into the long grass and many, many more. These examples are nightmare scenario for the industries affected by themselves, but there will be a knock-on to pretty much every other industry too. If people aren’t gathering in large numbers, they won’t be spending anywhere near the same amount of money in our hospitality and retail industries for example. Many business just won’t be able to weather the storm. It should not be news to anyone, but make no mistake, there’s a storm coming and we are all, going to have to pull together to ensure as many of us make it to shore as humanly possible.
This is why I’m hoping that the Chancellor’s budget will encourage our own new finance secretary Kate Forbes to follow in the same vein.
The Treasury is sending two lots of money to Holyrood,
Around £700 million is expected to be spread around Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help with the crisis, with somewhere in the region of £360 million earmarked for tackling the health crisis Scotland alone.
What I found most interesting though was the one-year business rates holiday being given to smaller businesses in the hospitality, retail and leisure industries. Already we are seeing the devastation being wrought in these trades and with the situation only going to get worse before it gets better that is a very welcome sight to see.
At the moment though, it is only our neighbours south of the border that can see that glimmer of hope on the horizon.
With that income now not being raised by councils down south, the Treasury are compensating them for loss of income, meaning there will be similar funds available for businesses up here.
Even in terms of competition, never mind survival, if English businesses are in receipt of such a massive tax break, surely we need to follow suit in Scotland?
I’d be very surprised if we don’t, which leads me to wonder if maybe it’s time to look at business rates in general and come up with a fairer and more modern approach. So much business these days is being done online, so consistently hammering bricks and mortar companies feels as outdated as it does wrong-headed. Whatever new system we come up with will not be an easy ride and involve much lobbying, compromise and I dare say raised words in Holyrood, but for the sake of all our businesses, we have to be bold and do better.
You have to love a good underdog story when a smaller businesses rises to the top of their game competing against the big names in their sector.
This past week, this very thing happened to an up-and-coming Scottish housebuilder, InverTay Homes, who were shortlisted for not one or two, but seven awards one of the sector’s key ceremonies.
One of the recurring names amongst the nominations for The Scottish Home Awards, Dundee-based InverTay Homes have been credited as frontrunner in categories such as Affordable Housing Development of the Year and Housebuilder of the Year.
The regional house building company founded by friends Edward Wighton and Michael Pratt back in 2013 will be going up against construction titans such as Miller Homes and Bellway Homes as the Glasgow-based ceremony later this year.
With an aim to create affordable, good quality housing to the Scottish housing market that surpasses the current offering of the competition, the dynamic developer duo ensure they build homes that are 20% larger than the average in their region.
With their background in construction, project management and office fit-outs, Edward’s and Michael’s ‘grand design’ approach to building seems refreshing in an age of carbon-copy new builds.
It’s healthy to see smaller Scottish companies looking to step up to the plate when it comes to facing the big guns head to head at their own game, especially in a market as crowded by key players as construction.
As with any David and Goliath story it is always nice to see the little guy win, so I’ll be rooting for the team at InverTay at the ceremony as they lay the foundations of the next big name in Scottish business.
It Made Me Laugh
Nothing shows more entrepreneurial promise than a high school hustler. Those baby steps into the world of commerce, for some, are the first signs of bright future in business. So this week, I couldn’t help but applaud the young lad who got into bother over seeing a personal money-making opportunity over the current demand of hand wash.
13-year-old Oliver Cooper from Leeds was reportedly sent home from school after selling his classmates a skoosh of sanitizer for 50p a pop, much to the dismay of his mother. Oliver got punished for jumping on the back of the coronavirus craze sweeping the nation with his discount deals in school, but made a £7.40 profit which he’s, according to his mum via Facebook, spending on Doritos and a kebab for tea.
It Made Me Weep
The issue with this hankering for antibacterial hand wash unfortunately isn’t all soap and glory. With several Scottish businesses, charities and even hospitals reporting that people have begun stealing hand sanitiser supplies in efforts to tackle this hysteria surrounding coronavirus, it’s truly disappointing news to see. Tesco have even gone as far as attaching security tags to their bathroom soap to stop it slipping out unnoticed.
Seeing Scottish businesses also bubbling this hysteria isn’t reassuring either. With people practically ransacking stores, a number of businesses have already had to enforce counter-hoarding measures. Whatever your company does to counter the coronavirus craze, it’s important to stay level headed and reasonable. More importantly, don’t hike up the price of soap to £20 like a garage owner in Kilmarnock did anyway…
