It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Amanda Dorel, regional director for the East Midlands at Lloyds Bank.
Businesses in the East Midlands have shown tremendous resilience throughout 2021. Our Business Barometer has indicated that confidence among local firms has grown steadily throughout the year, rising significantly from a negative reading at the start of the year to an impressive 42% in November.
However, the events of the past few weeks have demonstrated that we cannot predict what is around the corner. Firms have had to react quickly to ongoing supply chain disruption, and continue to face uncertainty over the impact of the Omicron variant.
Despite this, businesses will still be tentatively looking towards new opportunities in the new year; both at home, aided by more regional investment, and abroad, where new trade deals could open up wider prospects for East Midlands firms.
We expect sustainability to be one of the key factors dictating the business agenda in 2022. Eco-friendly credentials are no longer a ‘nice to have’, consumers expect firms to be making the right call on their environmental impact, and last month’s COP26 conference has increased this scrutiny even further.
We will be working with businesses to help them become greener through schemes such as our Clean Growth Finance Initiative (CGFI), which provides discounted funding to help businesses transition to a lower carbon, more sustainable future.
While there will be challenges in the months ahead, there will also be opportunities. Businesses must ensure they are ready to take advantage of these.
