Greater Manchester Business Survey: Key issues/challenges for Greater Manchester Businesses Richard...
16
Greater Manchester Business Survey: Key issues/challenges for Greater Manchester Businesses Richard Cook 30 September 2015
-
Upload
alyson-norman -
Category
Documents
-
view
221 -
download
0
Transcript of Greater Manchester Business Survey: Key issues/challenges for Greater Manchester Businesses Richard...
Greater Manchester Business Survey: Key issues/challenges for Greater Manchester Businesses
Richard Cook
30 September 2015
Background
• 2,000+ interviews from Nov 2014-Jan 2015
• Representative of GM by
• Business base
• Size
• Sector
• Location
What did the survey look at?
Business background
Drivers & barriers to
growth
Local area
Recruitment & skills
Business support
Innovation & technology
Export, trade &
connectivity
7 themes
Strong business sentiment
Drivers of, and barriers to, growth
Business location: satisfaction of local area as a place to do business (1)
Excludes “Don’t know” responses
• Most satisfaction in GM with
• Access to public transport
• Road transport access
• Quality of premises
• Least satisfaction in GM with
• Availability of parking
• Crime & ASB
• Image of area
Business location: satisfaction of local area as a place to do business (2)
Workforce & skills• Hard-to-fill vacancies
• Around 10% of firms in GM
• Main reasons: low number of applicants with required skills; lack of applicants with the required work ethic; and lack of work experience.
• Manufacturing; Transport & Storage; and Information & Communication sectors all 60%+ citing lack of skills.
• Work experience
• 17% of companies in GM offer paid work experience.
• 25% of GM firms offer unpaid work experience.
Apprenticeships
Access to finance
• 15% of firms had sought finance in the last 12 months. Main reasons:
Access to finance
63% of firms who had difficulty accessing finance were looking for loans up to £100,000.
21% of firms looking to finance long-term growth, would look for finance from local & central government. 7% would use venture capital or business angels to support growth.
Improving credit
conditions
Specialist finance
34% of firms who sought finance reported experiencing difficulties (49% in 2012).
Sectors reporting difficulties, concentrated in general services; construction; digital; transport & storage
Innovation
Access to international markets
Export intensive sectors : manufacturing; transport & storage; info & comms.
Main export market: Europe, followed by North America, Other Asia Pacific and China.
Propensity to export
11.2% of firms in GM export (12.9% in 2012).
UK Business Barometer – national average of 21%.
Additional 5% of GM businesses plan to engage in international trade in future.
Main barriers: regulation/legal requirements; political risks; and language/cultural barriers.
Future export growth
Sectors and
markets
Issues to consider (1)
• Most firms only use one form of support – scope to increase referrals between public and private sector providers.
Business Growth
• Importance of apprenticeships and work experience – using devolution deal to support growth and address productivity gap.
Skills
• Stimulating higher levels of innovation and R&D – raising the appetite for innovation. Innovation
Issues to consider (2)
• Finance gap still exists – scope to develop niche products or targeted campaigns aimed at areas where there appear to be particular market failures (for example, innovation & exports).
Finance
• Most firms don’t export and are not thinking of doing so – need for broad-based awareness raising and outreach and “myth busting” to firms that don’t currently have an interest in exporting.
Exports
