Business pressure growing for Freedom Day

There has been a steady rise in business confidence in the West Midlands over recent months as important steps have been taken and restrictions on some businesses have lifted.

Companies are beginning to step up investment and recruitment as the economy continues to return towards normality helped by the success of the vaccine rollout.

Non-essential retail and hospitality firms have now been able to reopen their doors to customers.

Last month business confidence in the West Midlands increased for the fourth month in a row, according to the latest business barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

Amanda Dorel, regional director for the West Midlands at Lloyds' commercial division, said: “Confidence has been gradually rising among West Midlands businesses for the past few months and it’s promising to see it reach levels not seen in the region for more than two years."

She said it was hoped this positive trajectory would continue as the final set of Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

Night club owners are among those hoping they will be able to reopen on June 21 after 15 months lying idle due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but they are still awaiting guidance on how they will be permitted to operate.

Businesses that are already in the early stages of recovery will not want to see any late announcement of a delay to the final stages of the road map.

What business wants above all is certainty on which to base the rebuiding of their trade.

Anything that holds up the complete removal of the lockdown is only likely to lead to more companies going out of business and the loss of jobs.

Business organisations, such as the Federation of Small Businesses, say firms that have been shut for 15 months cannot have their glimmer of hope snuffed out.

A wave of business failures and the consequent tide of unemployment that could unleash would be a fresh blow to the economy.

Unemployment has been going in the right direction in recent months and numbers on payrolls have surged.

Job vacancies have also been rising as the economy has returned to active life.

Employers of all sizes are beginning to recruit from Amazon, which has announced 10,000 – many in the West Midlands – to the smallest start-up firms.

Matthew Percival, the Confederation of British Industry's director of people and skills, has warned businesses are starting to report vacancies they're struggling to fill so Government support for skills and retraining is essential.

“Businesses increasingly need to know what rules will be in place after June 21 to make their next reopening decisions. They're hoping to avoid any further bumps in the road," he has said.