THE YEAR AHEAD!

The turmoil caused by the war in Ukraine, the political and economic upheaval we saw at home and the massive hike in business costs which saw the price of goods, utilities and staffing sky rocket all hit hard. And sadly, there was no universally available vaccine to deal with those problems.

as a priority, to crackdown on late payment practices that are crippling otherwise viable companies and to try and create a more positive atmosphere so business owners can feel confident to start or grow a business and take on staff.

Small businesses and the self-employed here in Cornwall and beyond have had an incredible period of instability over the past couple of years.

As we entered last year, the Covid vaccine was just starting to make us feel as if we were over the worst and recovery could be within grasp but unfortunately 2022 had a triple whammy of nasty tricks up its sleeve.

So, as we now settle into 2023 can we be more optimistic? On the surface the picture still looks bleak but we have to remember that so many great Cornish SMEs and self-employed businesses managed to get through Covid due to their ability to adapt and innovate. We can only hope this remarkable ‘never say die’ spirt will sustain us again through what will definitely be a challenging year.

At FSB we continue to work with Government to try and reduce all these pressures on business and our focus is to try to encourage the powers-that-be to be bold. We want to see them reduce the cost of doing business www.fsb.org.uk

And let’s not forget, supporting the Cornish self-employed and small businesses to do all this is not a ‘giveaway’ or a handout : it is an investment in our region and nation’s economic recovery.