New study to examine impact of pandemic and Brexit on South Tyneside companies

South Tyneside Council is to undertake a survey of businesses it says will enable officers to understand more about the impact of Covid and Brexit on local firms, and crucially, how it can better support the business community.

It will help identify barriers to growth and gather valuable data to feed in to future funding bids and to lobby government for the support needed locally.

Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council, said: “One of our key priorities is to create the conditions for recovery and investment, but we can’t do that alone.

“We know the last 18 months have been incredibly hard for our businesses.

“That’s why we need to work hand-in-hand with our local businesses, to listen to them and to ensure they have what they need to grow and flourish, and to generate confidence in South Tyneside as a place to do business.

“We need to understand the challenges facing our business community – particularly now, in the light of the pandemic and Brexit - to know how we can support them and eliminate any barriers to growth.

“This will be the first time we’ve carried out a comprehensive survey and we hope the information we gather will help us better engage with our businesses and provide targeted support.”

She said businesses will be approached via the Invest South Tyneside newsletter, business centres and through external partners such as the Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses.

Firms will be asked a range of questions including their requirements to help facilitate future growth plans, such as skills, funding and training.

Cllr Dixon added: “We want to gain as full a picture as possible, so we’d encourage any businesses that we don’t manage to contact directly to take part - the survey will only take around 10 minutes to complete.

“The information will help us build a local evidence base, which we can use for example to help understand strengths and priority sectors for our ongoing work on an Economic Assessment.

“We’ll be reporting back to businesses with key findings and next steps early next year.”

The survey is live now and can be accessed via https://www.investsouthtyneside.com/

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