Why I'm supporting Independents' Day UK and you should too

Today marks 100 days of lockdown in the UK. That’s 100 days since many small and medium businesses had to stop trading or experienced a significant reduction in their income; 100 days since many families connected; 100 days since we’ve all had to adjust to a new way of living.

As the Government continues gradually reducing the lockdown measures, and we start to readjust to another ‘new normal’, there is a growing temptation to put the past behind us. But the impact is likely to be felt for a long time to come and there are many lessons we can learn from the overall response, in particular from small and medium businesses (SMBs).

We have spent a lot of time over the past few months speaking to our customers and taking weekly polls to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their business, which has resulted in a study “Learnings from Lockdown”. Some of the reading is stark – but equally demonstrates the resilience, flexibility and optimism from UK businesses over the past few months:

• Despite the expected financial and operational disruption, optimism has gradually improved; SMBs entered lockdown in March expecting, on average, a -29% hit to 2020 revenue. By late May, this had moderated to -10% as businesses adjusted to the new environment. 
• Support among businesses for the actions taken by Government grew over the course of lockdown, and remained consistently high. SMBs ranked the Job Retention Scheme the most valued area of Government support. However, businesses will likely face many tough decisions over the summer, as the furlough scheme enters its second phase and redundancies are likely to peak. Echoing my words from this piece, I will continue to call for a nuanced and sophisticated approach to policy that recognises the diversity of small firms.
• Digital transformation will be critical to the economic recovery – and to driving greater resilience among businesses to help cope with future disruption. 70% believe that technology will play a key role in helping them adjust to the impact of COVID-19. Smaller firms are naturally agile and can adjust quickly – and those using technology and data are armed with valuable tools to help them adapt faster. But we must take every possible step to help support this shift-

For now, SMBs need our support to help them get back on track. They have created two thirds of new jobs since the last recession, and our research shows there are reasons to be optimistic that once again, British SMBs will lead the recovery.

This 4th July 2020 will be a key moment for our nation’s high streets – it is the UK’s “Independents’ Day”, with many local businesses opening up. We must show our solidarity and support by spending with local businesses. I am encouraging our colleagues globally to go and spend money with their local small and medium businesses on both July 4th, and every weekend for the rest of the year, to help keep these firms going and our economies moving.

Coupling decisive and targeted Government action with grassroots community support will provide our small firms will the best chance of weathering the storm.

So let’s all do our part. Please join us in standing with small and medium businesses who need our support the most.