Chamber column: 'Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine have all impacted firms across Rugby borough in different ways'

Karen Shuter, chair of the Rugby branch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, writes a regular column for the Rugby Advertiser.

Here is her latest column.

Uncertainty is certainly not the friend of business. And there has been no shortage of it in recent years.

We’ve had Brexit to contend with then, of course, Covid, followed by the war in Ukraine and they have all impacted firms across Rugby and the surrounding borough in different ways.

There has been a labour market crunch, rising commodity prices, general inflation and interest rates moving from their record low to 5.25 per cent.

So, rather than being able to plan for growth, many companies have been shifting their attention to dealing with the latest issue and that has, undoubtedly, hampered our economy.

You only have to look at the latest GDP figures for the UK to get a picture of what it has been like.

In the three months to July, the economy grew by 0.2 per cent. It’s growth – not by much – but it is growth all the same and at a time when the Bank of England has been trying to stamp down on inflation by using higher interest rates as its lever.

However, in the same set of figures we saw the economy had actually contracted by 0.5 per cent in July. So, is the economy growing? I’m not entirely certain!

What it shows is a truly mixed picture.

The latest Bank of England MPC meeting decided to hold interest rates after several months of rises on the back of improving figures on inflation.

It was welcome relief but for anyone visiting the fuel pumps in recent weeks you’ll know that prices are starting to rise again there – something I know only too well from my day job running a logistics company here in Rugby borough.

Again, it all adds up to uncertainty.

So, let me finish with something you can be certain about.

If you need support in your business – whether you are planning to grow or if you are simply trying to survive during difficult times – then the Chamber of Commerce can help.

There is a team of people ready to advise you. It could be getting you to networking events to meet potential customers or partners in our region or it could be helping you with overseas trade through our Global Network.

If you haven’t already, I’d urge you to sign up to the Chamber’s Annual Economic Conference at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday, November 10, where you’ll hear from the wonderful Clive Myrie but also get to meet other businesses from the region as well as the team from the Chamber.

For more information or to book a place go to https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/events/annual-business-economic-conference-2023/