Five Yorkshire businesses provide hope for Britain's economy - David Hall

The casualty list is beyond catastrophic, with job losses in the hundreds of thousands and rising, business closures mounting and hopes for future recovery blighted by continuing uncertainty.

But hope there is. Five businesses we brought together under the For Entrepreneurs Only Growth Programme shared stories of how they averted the Covid cliff edge, survived and even thrived.

One of them whose customers include the NHS and care homes suddenly found the demand shift from office furniture and workwear to PPE.

By adjusting its focus to source more surgical masks and disposable gloves, the company earned £1.8m between May and September, compared with £4,000 for those products during the same period last year. The boss of a tool hire company found herself furloughing staff, juggling home-schooling for three children, taking food to work for colleagues and hoping for the best.

But demand rocketed during the April heatwave, September and October were record months and two big acquisitions now leave the business able to trade on three fronts rather than just one.

None of the five are under any illusions about the challenges ahead but because of the early and decisive actions they took they can face the future with the support of new and existing customers – a huge asset for any business.

That message was hammered home by the most vulnerable business in our sample. As a travel company they made the point that pubs were hit hard by not being able to sell any beer, but at least they didn’t have to refund customers for drinks already sold.

This company suddenly found itself with no income but with a steady flow of cash out of the business, giving back everything they had made since March as clients cancelled their trips.

The owner drew parallels with 9/11 and the ash cloud, and he repeated his strategy from those huge setbacks of keeping cuts to a minimum, dealing with calls and emails as other operators put up the shutters, and reaping the reward of significant client retention and customer gains.

Even across the different business sectors the solution is clear – maintain the culture and values that have made you successful, keep communicating with customers, do all you can to meet their changing needs, be there for them when they need you.

That’s a particular priority in the short term when you need the business and your customers are crying out for deliveries, as demonstrated by another of our five who, after seeing their supply chain decimated, now has at least two sources for everything they need.

But you also have to think about the longer term.

The tool hire business was doubly fortunate in that one of its new depots not only builds capacity but is surrounded by chimney pots, helping to develop the domestic market which triggered the turnaround.

The office supplies business is now talking to clients about the likely shape of the office environment of the future. Fewer people at work, more people working from home, all of them in need of the ergonomic equipment which brings comfort and boosts productivity.

We found some fantastic, positive stories. What we saw, and what we like, is that there was great leadership in every case, a positive mental attitude, a growth mindset, the ability to develop people, finding and mobilising the talent within their organisations, and keeping the team onside.

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