The forums are a great opportunity to bring businesspeople together to talk about how they are finding the current economic climate and how they see the next few months panning out.
There is no doubt that we were all hoping that 2025 would bring a little more certainty than the past few years have provided, but it is fair to say, it hasn’t panned out that way just yet.
Our forums give us an opportunity to go beyond the national and international headlines about Trump, tariffs and taxes to get a really good feel for how local businesses of all sizes and sectors are really finding things.
The latest Quarterly Economic Survey for our region showed that we are still in more confident mood than much of the rest of the UK but that our outlook did take a little bit of a dip – which is no real surprise when you look at what is happening at home and in the wider world.
That is why it is so important to hear directly from businesses in our region to help the Chamber to fully understand the key issues on the ground and make sure these are front and centre of discussions with decision makers.
To help better inform those conversations, the Chamber is also creating a manifesto that will be published later this year to help provide a real focus on the main are holding back business and, crucially, the solutions to some of those.
The next Local Business Forum will be an opportunity for companies across Mid-Warwickshire to feed into that, to ensure that the opinions of a broad cross-section of companies from across the county are represented.
We all know that the rise in National Insurance and the general cost of doing business is hampering many firms, and that the general uncertainty has affected confidence.
But it’s important that we don’t assume to know how everyone is feeling and that is why I am urging as many companies as possible to take this opportunity to speak up and contribute to this important piece of work.
Finally, I would like to say good luck to all of those who have been shortlisted for the Chamber’s inaugural Business & Community Awards and I’d urge everyone – whether you are in the running or not – to book their place at what promises to be a fantastic event.
