Last week, we held our second Coffee Morning event. Alan was joined by Chief Executive at Ultimate Finance, Josh Levy, to discuss Funding Growth Post-Covid.
We are now seeing a wind-down of government support schemes as Covid restrictions ease, although there is due to be a delay on this, following recent announcements.
The latest event hosted by TSF finance covered the below topics:
After the 1st July, businesses will be liable for starting to repay Covid and furlough loans, and as we move throughout the rest of the year we will begin to see that strain on businesses for repayment of additional debt, financial or non-financial. This creates a huge implication for cash flow over the next year.
Off the back of Brexit, businesses have had to adjust greatly. The main issues appeared to be felt at the start of the year as a paperwork challenge, while complications at borders and realities on a new process had to be adapted to. Staff shortages also played a factor in affecting how businesses could run, as they struggled to recruit skilled labour.
"Restarting businesses now is where one of the bigger challenges is. There are supply issues, balance sheets and profit sheets are impacted, order books are incredible but cash reserves are down. Suppliers want to be paid earlier, and we're seeing a textbook case of overtrading."
The availability, reliability and cost pressures that the supply chain faced also proved to be a challenge, not so much when it stopped, but as different industries started up again and demand grew quickly. It wasn't as simple as just switching the supply chain on when other businesses were able to open, and availability pressures were certainly felt by many.
While the above directly affected how businesses could manoeuvre over the last 15 months or so, we are beginning to see recovery. With this recovery comes future planning, and finding that balance between investment, and having confidence in the market versus tax incentives - despite this massive economic boom we're beginning to witness, the market still feels fragile to many.
"A lender can bring a pair of eyes that have the experience to tell you what funding is right for you, and the value of an advisor is to understand what you need, taking a step back from marketing and sales speak to help you understand what your best options are to grow your business."
During the event, Alan and Josh discussed the above and how the market has been directly affected, providing their recommendations on rebuilding and funding for growth. They also reviewed lender assessments and how they will measure the impact of Covid, Brexit and the issues facing the supply chain into consideration when reviewing a business for funding now.
You can watch the full event below, and also see the questions asked by multiple business owners from a variety of industries at the end:
