Councils are working hard to help local firms through the recession, British Chambers of Commerce chief, David Frost, tells Michael Burton, on the eve of its annual conference
Small businesses will lead the UK out of the recession, and local authorities must continue to help them any way possible, says David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.
In an interview with The MJ on the eve of his annual conference, Mr Frost praised local government for helping small firms – which make up local chambers of commerce – through the downturn.
He added: ‘Over the last couple of years, there has been a greater understanding by local authorities about local businesses. Councils have a greater sense of helping them grow.
‘Business across middle Britain will drive us out of recession. And my feedback from small and medium-sized businesses, the heart of our membership, is that the economy has bottomed out, that the recent fast decline is coming to an end,’ he continued.
‘But it will be a very different economy when we emerge. The public sector will be squeezed, financial services will be smaller, and the consumer will have less money and will want to save.’
The BCC’s annual conference, takes place in Birmingham next week, with keynote addresses from shadow business secretary, Kenneth Clarke; small business minister, Baroness Vadera; and trade minister, Lord Davies.
A business convention, whose supporters include The MJ, will also be at the event, providing a platform for the public and private sectors to meet, and there is a procurement zone attended by buyers.
The conference theme this year is ‘The road to recovery’. The BCC is a national body for the network of chambers of commerce across the UK, representing 100,000 firms employing five million people.
As a signal of better relations between councils and their local businesses, the LGA and the BCC, earlier this year, pledged to encourage more joint working between the two sectors.
In January 2009, the BCC and the LGA jointly produced a booklet Back to business: Local solutions on how councils could help local firms through the recession.
It stated that ‘councils and chambers of commerce were in the frontline in dealing with the local economic effects of the recession.’ But the report also recognised that the plethora of Whitehall initiatives such as City Strategy Pathfinders, the £1.5bn Working Neighbourhoods Fund – set up to boost local skills and reduce worklessness – and the Employment and Skills Board often confused local firms.
The skills and worklessness agenda is currently handled by three Whitehall departments – the CLG (working neighbourhoods, regeneration), the DWP (JobcentrePlus), and the DIUS (LSC and its successors, the Skills Funding Agency and Young People’s Agency), plus RDAs and local authorities.
The report reminded councils to provide help through specialist advice for firms, prompt payment, and long-term joint working to boost local economies.
In his interview, Mr Frost said his members shared a common interest with their councils in place-shaping, adding: ‘What’s struck me in the past six years I’ve been in the job is the sense of place felt by many of our members.
‘Chamber businesses have pride in their area and they want the best for it. They uniquely share this with local authorities, which also want their areas to do well.’
Many local chambers of commerce and councils are already working closely together.
The Greater Manchester city-region, through its 10 councils which make up AGMA, ensure the chambers are represented on all LSPs, and has created the Business Leadership Council.
In Brighton & Hove, the council offers advice and property searches to new and existing businesses. In Hull, the council and business work through the Hull Business Forum, set up to provide business leadership on the city’s LSP, One Hull.
But on the sensitive subject of business rate localisation, Mr Frost remained adamant that business rate had to remain nationalised and that there must be no increase or supplementary rate.
‘Business isn’t just a cash cow and I’m opposed to the business rate returning locally,’ he said. ‘The idea of a supplementary rate is unacceptable. What are good models are business improvement districts.’
Mr Frost also said councils needed to learn from business about how to respond to the recession.
He concluded: ‘What I’ve seen from among our members is their speed of reaction to the downturn, such as pay freezes and innovative ways of cutting their employer costs. There are lessons here for local authorities.’
The BCC annual conference takes place at the ICC, Birmingham, 27 April
In an interview with The MJ on the eve of his annual conference, Mr Frost praised local government for helping small firms – which make up local chambers of commerce – through the downturn.
He added: ‘Over the last couple of years, there has been a greater understanding by local authorities about local businesses. Councils have a greater sense of helping them grow.
‘Business across middle Britain will drive us out of recession. And my feedback from small and medium-sized businesses, the heart of our membership, is that the economy has bottomed out, that the recent fast decline is coming to an end,’ he continued.
‘But it will be a very different economy when we emerge. The public sector will be squeezed, financial services will be smaller, and the consumer will have less money and will want to save.’
The BCC’s annual conference, takes place in Birmingham next week, with keynote addresses from shadow business secretary, Kenneth Clarke; small business minister, Baroness Vadera; and trade minister, Lord Davies.
A business convention, whose supporters include The MJ, will also be at the event, providing a platform for the public and private sectors to meet, and there is a procurement zone attended by buyers.
The conference theme this year is ‘The road to recovery’. The BCC is a national body for the network of chambers of commerce across the UK, representing 100,000 firms employing five million people.
As a signal of better relations between councils and their local businesses, the LGA and the BCC, earlier this year, pledged to encourage more joint working between the two sectors.
In January 2009, the BCC and the LGA jointly produced a booklet Back to business: Local solutions on how councils could help local firms through the recession.
It stated that ‘councils and chambers of commerce were in the frontline in dealing with the local economic effects of the recession.’ But the report also recognised that the plethora of Whitehall initiatives such as City Strategy Pathfinders, the £1.5bn Working Neighbourhoods Fund – set up to boost local skills and reduce worklessness – and the Employment and Skills Board often confused local firms.
The skills and worklessness agenda is currently handled by three Whitehall departments – the CLG (working neighbourhoods, regeneration), the DWP (JobcentrePlus), and the DIUS (LSC and its successors, the Skills Funding Agency and Young People’s Agency), plus RDAs and local authorities.
The report reminded councils to provide help through specialist advice for firms, prompt payment, and long-term joint working to boost local economies.
In his interview, Mr Frost said his members shared a common interest with their councils in place-shaping, adding: ‘What’s struck me in the past six years I’ve been in the job is the sense of place felt by many of our members.
‘Chamber businesses have pride in their area and they want the best for it. They uniquely share this with local authorities, which also want their areas to do well.’
Many local chambers of commerce and councils are already working closely together.
The Greater Manchester city-region, through its 10 councils which make up AGMA, ensure the chambers are represented on all LSPs, and has created the Business Leadership Council.
In Brighton & Hove, the council offers advice and property searches to new and existing businesses. In Hull, the council and business work through the Hull Business Forum, set up to provide business leadership on the city’s LSP, One Hull.
But on the sensitive subject of business rate localisation, Mr Frost remained adamant that business rate had to remain nationalised and that there must be no increase or supplementary rate.
‘Business isn’t just a cash cow and I’m opposed to the business rate returning locally,’ he said. ‘The idea of a supplementary rate is unacceptable. What are good models are business improvement districts.’
Mr Frost also said councils needed to learn from business about how to respond to the recession.
He concluded: ‘What I’ve seen from among our members is their speed of reaction to the downturn, such as pay freezes and innovative ways of cutting their employer costs. There are lessons here for local authorities.’
The BCC annual conference takes place at the ICC, Birmingham, 27 April
