The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 14: Winter 2019 | Page 10

BUSINESS REVIEW OF THE YEAR BUSINESS REVIEW OF THE YEAR As 2019 draws to a close and we step into 2020, what has business been like for us in Bath, Somerset and beyond? We are no further forward at time of writing on Brexit. Will it happen or not? All we know for certain is that there will be no movement on ‘in’ or ‘out’ until 31st January at the earliest. Or will there? What will the General Election on 12th December bring? Business has continued to be done and in the last couple of weeks the Lloyds Bank Business Barometer suggested that, in the South West, confidence has fallen in the region with about 37 per cent of businesses feeling that exit from the EU was having a negative impact on their expectations of activity. Other regions of the UK seem to be more confident with a slight uplift in expectation, the most confident region being the East Midlands. Also while confidence appears to have dipped, there has been an increase in export growth and domestic sales have remained stable so far. One of the biggest challenges across the region remains the labour market, with recruitment and retention being a key focus for those business owners with staff. Highly skilled staff in various sectors are scarce and there has also been concern over a lack of skills among staff - especially soft-skills – the ability to deal with people. One reason for this is that our region has the lowest unemployment rate in the UK, currently at about 2.7 per cent. Legal However whatever the general picture may be, there are many business in our area reflecting on the last 12 months and we’ve invited some business people to share their successes with you. We’ve asked each contributor to share their highlights from 2019, upcoming milestones and any news about their sector likely to make an impact in 2020. Mike Westbrook, Private Client Partner, Thrings Highlights from 2019 Thrings places a lot of value on career progression, so we were excited to announce our largest ever round of promotions adding three partners, a legal director, six associates and eight senior associates (a new role for the firm). Our conveyancing team has been particularly busy helping purchasers buy up properties at Bath Riverside and a number of other prestigious residential developments in the city. While not our biggest corporate financing deal, we were pleased to help ‘pay per stay’ insurer, Guardhog, close a first round of funding. The fast-growing and innovative tech business works closely with short- stay rental sites such as Airbnb and already counts England rugby star James Haskell as a fan. What’s going to impact the legal profession next year? Blockchain! It’s not just about bitcoin and crypto assets, the technology is going to shake up every sector, including our own. That’s why we’re swotting up as a firm to help our clients seize the opportunities it presents (and mitigate the risks) – including for private clients. What are you looking forward to in 2020? In 2020 we will be building our reputation as strong private client advisers, working alongside our commercial lawyers to guide individuals through the complex matters that arise from one’s private, business and property interests. For more info: www.thrings.com [email protected] 01225 340058 Finance Angela Ashworth, Co-Founder, Purple Lime Highlights from 2019 We have grown our team and our client base, moved to bigger office space at Hartham Park in Corsham to accommodate our growth and we’ve launched our Xero training programme to help clients – and other business owners – make the most of the modern, dynamic accounting platform. We have also done multiple things for charity throughout the year with one team member, Edd Stone, even breaking a Guinness World Record for travelling from Land’s End to John O’Groats on an electric unicycle! [email protected] 01249 691360 10 www.tbebathandsomerset.co.uk What are you looking forward to in 2020? For us it’s all about innovative technology to support our own business and that of our clients. Things to look out for include: • Nat West Aptimise - no more logging into your bank to pay your supplier - just process , get approval and send via Xero. One snag is you have to have a Nat West account! • Credec - a competitor to the above - however for all SMEs, their bookkeepers, staff and accounting partners this could be a game changer - more automation, less room for error, client in control. • Tradelock - new on the block for business finance this is where you can insure your sales invoices against non payment. What’s going to impact the finance sector next year? Technology will continue to disrupt the sector and we welcome it! Those companies which turn their back on technology and still focus on paper will continue to lose ground. Apps and services which were once the domain of big companies are increasingly available to SMEs. Business finance and the ability to insure against non-payment – a huge problem for small business – are just two areas of rapid innovation. For more info: www.purplelime.uk.com