Lovetts Solicitors Managing Director appears on a Federation of Small Businesses panel

Lovetts Solicitors Managing Director, Michael Higgins, appeared on a Federation of Small Businesses panel with the Member of Parliament for Guildford; Angela Richardson and MBE, EM3 LEP Board Member; Ren Kapur to set out the post-pandemic Roadmap to Economic Recovery.

Michael Higgins expressed his ‘admiration for the way businesses have coped during the pandemic’ before giving advice on the importance of cash flow and the impact late payment has on businesses.

Key metrics prior to the pandemic showed an economy that was already struggling. These included:

The pandemic will undoubtedly have impacted the economy even further. Cash flow for businesses will be crucial as part of the roadmap to post-pandemic recovery. Michael gave attendees some key tips for businesses to help protect their cash flow. These inclused:

Could the government do more? It was mutually agreed by Michael and Ren that the government could go further in providing support for businesses in order to aid in the economic recovery. However, credit was given for the introduction of the furlough scheme and government grants to help businesses and the general public.

The potential impact of the pandemic in respect of the mental health of employees was also discussed. The panel agreed that employees working from home and in isolation from colleagues was likely to have an impact on mental health and would have to be managed carefully. Michael explained how Lovetts Solicitors had partnered with Oakleaf, a mental health charity based in Guildford, and that mental health first aid courses were offered. Oakleaf also work to support individuals with their mental health by arranging activities that can be attended to via zoom, hampers for their members at Christmas, they offer one to one support and recently have helped 95% of their clients to feel less isolated during the pandemic.

One thing we know can have a positive impact on our mental health is going on holiday. As things stand at present, the government are stating that travel is going to be possible from the 17th May. Ren Kapur had to say that we should still be a little cautious when it comes to the idea of being able to go on holiday as things could change on a week by week basis. Angela Richardson was able to shine some light on this situation as she confirmed details such as the fact that nothing is set in stone and International travel after 17th May is subject to review, much closer to the time. Angela put forward the concept of the ‘traffic corridor system’. This is the idea that depending on the infection rates and how safe it is to travel, countries will be put into either red, amber or green categories to prevent the further spread of the virus or new variants from other countries. She went further to encourage stay cations which seems to be the best way of continuing on our pragmatic road map to recovery.

To share some final thoughts, Managing Director of Lovetts Solicitors, Michael Higgins had to say; “it is going to be a tough road to recovery but there is a lot of faith to be had in businesses”. A similar thought was shared by Ren who agreed that she had a lot of faith in our country and our communities that we can all work together to support one another on our Road Map to Recovery.

30 April 2021