Member Article

Small business support through the eyes of retail

Judith Ramshaw, Centre Manager, at The Royal Quays Outlet Centre in North Shields, shares her thoughts on the government’s pledge to support small businesses.

As the economy continues to face significant challenges and bank bailouts becoming the norm, the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) continue to operate against a tough backdrop.

In the UK, only 25% of small businesses think they are good at getting external finance. However, according to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), 58% of small firm employers who received advice reported improved business performance.

Clearly, more needs to be done to help small businesses to grow and prosper. In today’s environment, becoming an entrepreneur is a brave and risky move.

I welcome the announcement last month of the introduction of the “funding for lending scheme” which could support up to £80bn in new loans. Aimed at providing billions of pounds of cheap credit to banks to boost small business and mortgage lending, it will be interesting to see what effect this has, if any, on the regional retail market.

The government scheme to try to boost bank lending has been followed by the promise to make this a nationwide scheme. With a number of banks having signed up so far, these could be the baby steps that business owners have long been waiting for.

Having trained in retail management, I know, first hand, that it is a tough environment. Many well-known brands have disappeared as a result of the recession and the high street is suffering as consumers contain to be careful about how they spend.

For many retailers these are challenging times, although there are still profits to be made if you have good products that are competitively priced and marketed well. That said, dealing with customers, ordering stock and getting your name into the market is a non-stop process.

At Royal Quays, we support our retail operators as much as we can as they are part of the life blood to the North East economy.

While we are doing our bit, it is important that there is wider support for the small business sector. They need to know that there is help on hand should they need it and are not left alone to face daunting challenges.

So, I welcome what could be a positive intervention by the government and so do our operators.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Royal Quays Outlet Centre .