Take part in our Coronavirus Business Recovery Survey to let us know how you are preparing your business for the next phase in socially distanced and COVID-secure enterprise
An update from our Chair
Recent weeks have been challenging for all as businesses, as employers, as employees and as individuals. The changes to our way of life have presented unprecedented challenges that have pushed many of us to re-evaluate our priorities and ways of operating.
The South East business community – like so many others across the UK – is facing one of its most challenging times to date. The health of our families, our colleagues and our co-workers is paramount, but as we move into a new phase of lockdown guidance, we start to look to the future for our business community: what is possible, and what does a new world of socially-distanced enterprise and COVID-secure business operations look like?
The South East LEP has been working closely with our Growth Hub partners, Chambers of Commerce, FSB, Universities and our Local Authorities to support the regional business community.
As well as providing business support on a 1-2-1 basis through our Growth Hub, we have also been focusing on providing high quality, clear information and guidance to businesses to help navigate the new wave of schemes and programmes available to them and their employees.
We are also working to ensure that policymakers at local and national level recognise the challenges facing businesses and the impact that this will have on businesses both now and in the future. Gathering intelligence directly from the business community, in terms of data and also qualitative feedback, is crucial at this time.
To help us to do this most effectively, we need to understand more about how COVID-19, and the government’s response to the crisis, has impacted upon businesses in our area.
SELEP is undertaking a second business survey, which seeks to go beyond our initial survey, which was focussed on understanding immediate impact. We are seeking to understand the ongoing pressures on businesses and how the new measures and guidance is affecting activities not just in the short term but also for future planning and operations.
We are therefore inviting businesses from across the South East area to complete a short survey. Please take time to complete the survey, which should take no more than five minutes. This is an opportunity to ensure that your views directly inform government thinking and their next steps and any future investments and programmes Government or South East LEP may develop, with partners across the South East to support our business communities.
Finally, I’d like to thank you for your support and for your work to help strengthen and sustain business across the South East. Your work is vital to the livelihoods of many thousands of people and to the success of our communities – it is more important now than it has ever been. Our bulletins and news updates will be available online in our news section or you can sign up to receive these here.
If you would like to contact SELEP regarding any of your activity or have any queries, please email hello@southeastlep.com and we will respond as quickly as we can.
Christian Brodie
Chair, South East LEP