“I think businesses across the South West, like a lot of businesses across the UK, had a challenging year.”
Amanda Dorel, regional director for the South West at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, spoke to BusinessLive about how companies and their leaders have contended with rising prices, high costs of energy, and inflation in 2023.
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She said: “Businesses across the South West are also telling us that they have struggled on occasion to find the right skilled employment and that’s across a number of different sectors.”
According to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, which was conducted between November 1-15, before the Chancellor's Autumn Statement on November 22, companies in the South West reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up one point at 52%.
'They have got one eye on next year with confidence'
Business confidence in the region has fluctuated all year due to the reasons Ms Dorel outlined for us. However, she was more positive for 2024 and said that in the South West businesses are “robust”.
She added: “They’ve been looking at the growth opportunities and thinking about innovative ways to remain competitive, whether that is going into new markets or diversifying into new revenue streams.”
The regional director of the banking group is confident that her clients are well equipped to handle the challenges brought about in 2023 as they move forward into the new year. She told BusinessLive how they, alongside Lloyds, are looking into the tech market and using data to uncover new opportunities.
Ms Dorel explained: “We have definitely seen tech businesses thrive this year, so that’s a really good opportunity and we recognise that at Lloyds Banking Group, and we are going through a programme of accrediting some of our relationship managers and relationship directors to understand how they can help tech businesses further.”
This year Lloyds teamed up with law firm Womble Bond Dickson to sponsor UKTN’s Regional Tech Report: Bristol and Bath. The report found that not only have the ecosystems grown, but the support structures and resources have also experienced flux.
There have been new initiatives and investments in the region’s tech sector, such as UK-wide Mercia, which set up a Bristol base in 2022, and QantX, which transitioned from a collection of angel investors to a VC fund in 2021. In addition, tech companies expanded their presence or investment, with BT opening a new flagship office for 2,500 people in 2023 and Dyson building a £100m tech centre in Bristol.
'We have definitely seen tech businesses thrive this year'
The report also pointed out that the AHRC-funded five-year, £6.8m programme Bristol & Bath Creative R&D is in its final year of supporting creative tech collaborations. Another five-year initiative funded by Innovate UK began last year with Digital Catapult and Nvidia running a creative tech challenge MyWorld for West of England startups.
Ms Dorel said that her team of relationship managers and relationship directors are “gearing up for 2024 and beyond”. She urged businesses to be “optimistic” and to work with their banks.
She added: “We across the South West are versed in all the sectors. So my own team looks at trading businesses and how they can support those trading businesses to achieve their own goals and objectives.”
This positivity comes from the stabilising of interest rates. Ms Dorel told BusinessLive how the increase in interest rates over 2023 impacted confidence levels, but now that they are plateauing out businesses perhaps have a “stronger appetite around things like lending”.
During 2023, Ms Dorel noted that the increase in the interest rate environment led to less appetite for things like working capital solutions and lending.
However she said: “Because we are beginning to see inflation starting to fall, they are looking more optimistically about their goals in 2024 and what they could be doing around things such as new markets, new technology; and how they are looking to develop their businesses in 2024 and beyond. They have got one eye on next year with confidence.”
Throughout the year the banking group has supported a number of businesses across the South West region, from various sectors.
For example, Cornwall-based fuel distributor Mitchell and Webber is reducing its carbon emissions and improving its renewable fuel offering. The company is investing in its fleet to ensure the delivery of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is as carbon efficient as possible.
This goal was achieved through the purchase of three HVO renewable fuel tractor units, which were financed through a six-figure hire purchase and Lloyds Bank’s Clean Growth Financing Initiative.
Elsewhere, Gloucester-based The P&M Group, which specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of refrigerated storage units for the food industry is set to triple its production capacity over the next three years with a £1,000,000 funding package from the bank.
While in Bristol international food manufacturer Plant Ex is set to increase its production capacity by 30% after securing a £3.3m funding package. The company will also increase its headcount and customer support systems.
