Latest updates and stories from Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce and its Members

There's no shortage of conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) and what it could mean for businesses. From saving time on everyday tasks to improving customer service, the opportunities are growing. But for many SMEs, the challenge is knowing where to start and how to make the most of AI without putting their business at risk.

The Chancellor's Autumn Budget had the feel of a 'steady as you go' exercise, with targeted support for some businesses, measures to encourage investment and little to ease the pressures facing many SMEs.

For Bedfordshire businesses, there are welcome announcements, particularly for retail, hospitality and leisure, but many firms will still be waiting for more meaningful help with energy, employment and other operating costs.

There are some encouraging signs in the latest Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), with business confidence beginning to improve. However, for many businesses, rising costs and ongoing uncertainty are still making it difficult to plan and invest for the future.

The QES is the UK's largest independent survey of business sentiment, giving businesses a voice on the issues affecting them and helping inform decisions made by Government, the Bank of England and policymakers.

For Vicki and Chris Short, Directors of D&G Short, celebrating the company’s 100th anniversary is about far more than reaching an impressive business milestone.

It is about family, generations of customers who have walked through the door and a business that has been part of the fabric of Flitwick for a century.

Red Event Production is entering a defining new phase, with the move into a purpose-built 12,500 sq ft facility marking a major milestone for the Bedfordshire-based events specialist.

Specialising in full-service event production, the business delivers Audio Visual, staging and technical solutions for corporate events, awards and brand activations across the UK and beyond.

For Managing Director Oliver Gee, this move is far more than a change of premises. It is the culmination of a series of deliberate decisions that have positioned the business for its next chapter.

Bedfordshire has real opportunities for growth, but local businesses need the confidence to take advantage of them.

We speak to businesses across the county every day, and we know there is no shortage of ambition. Firms want to recruit, invest, expand and win new work, but rising costs and uncertainty are making it harder to take those next steps.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling on Chancellor, John Healey, to ‘Back Business, Cut Costs and Deliver Growth’ in his first Budget statement.  
 

With BCC research showing fragile business confidence, its budget submission asks the Chancellor to give firms the ‘breathing space’ they need to create jobs, invest and grow.  

For Michael Callum, Director of Callum Solutions, protecting people has been the common thread running through much of his working life.

After 21 years in the security sector and nine years working in education as a teacher and behaviour manager, Michael realised that the skills he had developed in two seemingly different careers were more closely connected than he first thought.

Social value is becoming an increasingly important part of winning work, particularly for businesses looking to secure public sector contracts or become part of major supply chains. But from the conversations we're having with our members and businesses across Bedfordshire, there is still some uncertainty around what social value actually means and what businesses need to do about it.

For many SMEs, it can sound like another procurement requirement to navigate, but the reality is that many businesses are already delivering social value every day. The challenge is recognising that contribution, recording it and being able to demonstrate the difference you're making when an opportunity arises.

For Michelle Crook, Founder and Director of Reactiv8 (www.reactiv8.org.uk), success has never been measured by business growth or awards alone. It is measured by the difference the organisation makes to people's lives.

That purpose was recognised at the recent 2026 SME Bedfordshire Business Awards, where Reactiv8 won the Positive Impact Award before being crowned the Overall Winner of the evening. For Michelle, however, the recognition belongs to the people around her.

For Anna Crawte, Director of Education, and Paul Edmond, Chief Financial Officer at HEART Academies Trust, success isn't measured solely by exam results or league tables. It's measured by the opportunities children leave with, the confidence they gain and the barriers they no longer face.

That belief has shaped HEART Academies Trust since it was established in 2017. What began with four schools has grown into a family of six schools across Bedford, united by a shared ambition to give every child the very best start in life.

Every business wants to grow. The challenge is knowing when to invest, how to adapt and how to move forward when the economic picture feels uncertain. That is why the Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) matters.

Now in its 38th year, the QES is the UK’s largest independent survey of business sentiment. It gives businesses across the country the chance to share what they are experiencing and helps ensure those views are heard by Government, the Bank of England and policymakers.

Bedfordshire is entering one of the most exciting periods of economic growth in its history.

From Universal Destinations & Experiences and London Luton Airport's expansion to East West Rail, major regeneration projects and wider infrastructure investment, billions of pounds are set to flow into the county over the coming years. Alongside that investment will come new jobs, expanding supply chains and opportunities for businesses across almost every sector.

Reacting to the UK-India trade deal entering into force, Steve Lynch MBE, Director of International Trade at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:    

    
“It has been a tough few years for UK traders but there is a real buzz among businesses about this deal entering into force. It is a genuinely exciting milestone.

Reacting to news of an upgraded free trade agreement with Switzerland, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said: 

 
"This is an important upgrade as Switzerland is one of the UK's largest trading partners, especially in services. It will provide welcome certainty for thousands of companies in the legal, financial services, and accounting professions.  

A pioneering scheme for business-led skills planning in England has been given the green light for another three years by the government, today. 
  

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) have been running for four years and have engaged thousands of people and employers in the training and education that firms desperately need.   

London Luton Airport (LLA) invested £41.2 million with local businesses in 2025, including £25.2 million with companies based in Luton, while almost £700,000 was channelled into community initiatives and charities supporting more than 34,000 local people.

Place-based growth meets a fragile economy 

Andy Burnham’s recent speech in Manchester set out an ambitious economic vision of “good growth in every postcode”. He outlined a major rebalancing of power away from Whitehall, with a renewed focus on housing, transport, skills, infrastructure and industrial renewal. 

For the UK Chamber of Commerce Network, much of this will feel familiar. Chambers have long argued that economic policy works best when it is shaped close to the businesses and communities it is designed to serve.  

The proportion of firms planning to increase investment has fallen to its lowest level since the pandemic, according to the latest British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Quarterly Economic Survey. The UK’s largest independent business sentiment survey also shows confidence weakened in Q2, with fewer firms increasing sales and inflation re-emerging as the leading concern.

For Lorna Leonard, helping businesses grow has always been about much more than finance.

As Founder and Managing Director of Leonard Business Services, she has spent more than a decade supporting business owners, helping them make better decisions, build stronger foundations and plan confidently for the future.

A new Administration must back business if it wants the UK to prosper, Director General of the BCC, Shevaun Haviland, is set to warn.  

At the BCC’s Global Annual Conference, Haviland will outline how successive governments have hobbled Britain’s business prospects and the three drivers of growth through which the damage can be fixed. 

She will urge the next Prime Minister to resist the temptation to pile costs on business, if they want the economy to deliver the growth needed to fund wider priorities. 


On Economic Growth

Haviland is expected to highlight how delivering growth is the only answer to the UK’s persistent tax, borrowing and spending challenge, saying:  

 “The difficult truth is, whoever leads the UK, the primary challenge remains the same – delivering growth.  

“Outside of the pandemic rebound, UK growth has flatlined year after year. And this economic malaise is nothing new or attributable to the policies of a single government.  

“Despite all our strengths, we are failing to fulfil our potential. Businesses can feel it and voters can feel it too.” 

On Business Confidence  

Emphasising the importance of business confidence, Haviland will say:    

“We have the ambition, the ideas, the talent. Why aren’t we delivering more growth as a nation?  

“Our research gives a clear answer – it is a lack of confidence.  

“Weak confidence reduces appetite for risk, which reduces investment, which hampers growth, which knocks confidence further.  

“And this circular crisis of confidence is now shackling ambition. Blocking the actions needed to invest,  innovate and trade.  

“And whoever sits in No10, or the Treasury, needs to understand that.  

“Businesses can only deliver growth, if the environment they operate in gives them the confidence  to act. And that is where political leadership can make all the difference.” 

On Policy and Costs 

Addressing the cost of doing business in the UK, Haviland is expected to say: 

“A cost of doing business crisis is now suppressing the very growth we want to see. Over the last decade policy choices have made the reality of doing business even tougher. 

“Government imposed costs on your average SME have risen by more than 70 per cent in just 10 years. 

“At a time of huge economic shocks and global headwinds, successive UK governments have chosen to pile more and more cost on companies. That is no way to run an economy. 

“So, if we want to see growth - our political leaders must reduce the burdens on business.  

“Taxing businesses more, would be a road to ruin. The quickest way to destroy the fragile confidence that we have left. You must back businesses, not tax them, if you want to see growth. 

“Great care is also needed to prevent the Employment Rights Act, having a similar confidence crushing effect. We need to find a mix that works for all. That means coming together. Government, unions and business and accepting that there will need to be compromises to make this package workable. Ensuring rights – but also employment.” 

Also speaking at the conference will be Robert Begbie, CEO, Commercial and Institutional at NatWest – the BCC’s headline partner for the event. 

Looking ahead to the day, he said: 

“Growth and confidence must be at the centre of the UK’s economic agenda. The UK does not lack ambition or ideas — the challenge is scaling them into globally competitive businesses. As the UK’s largest bank for business, we see first-hand the opportunity to turn resilience into momentum — bringing together ideas, capital, policy and technology where growth happens.  

“By supporting businesses from start-up through to scale, and helping create the right conditions for investment, we can unlock confidence, remove barriers to action, and drive sustainable growth across the UK.” 

We were delighted to welcome Bedfordshire's business community to The Marquee, Bedford yesterday for the SME Bedfordshire Business Awards 2026.

One of the highlights of the Bedfordshire business calendar, the Awards brought together businesses, entrepreneurs, employers, charities and community organisations from across the county for an evening dedicated to celebrating success.

Global supply chains have rarely felt more exposed. Over the past decade, UK businesses have faced Brexit, the pandemic, energy shocks, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, tariff volatility and wider geopolitical uncertainty. For many firms, supply chain disruption is no longer occasional, but part of the everyday operating environment.

With the SME Bedfordshire Business Awards 2026 taking place next month, we are proud to reveal this year’s finalists. Following another exceptional year of entries, the shortlist reflects the strength, ambition and resilience that continues to define Bedfordshire’s business community.

More than 400 businesses from across Bedfordshire came together at King’s House in Bedford for the official launch of BedX – Bedfordshire Opportunity Exchange, a new business-led initiative designed to help local companies prepare for and engage with a significant pipeline of regional investment.

Responding to the latest Bank of England interest rate decision, David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce said: 

“Holding the interest rate at 3.75% was the sensible call given the current geopolitical situation. The MPC is right to emphasise that monetary policy can not address the root cause of this shock - rising global energy prices. However, the Bank signals that future rate rises are possible if the conflict persists.

There is a clear shift happening across Bedfordshire. Businesses are looking ahead and asking a simple question: how do we make sure we are ready to take advantage of what’s coming next?

That question is exactly what led to the creation of BedX.

Responding to the latest inflation data, published this morning by the Office for National Statistics, David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce said: 

“Today's 3.3% inflation figure for March is an early signal that the Iran conflict is feeding through into official data and impacting the UK economy.  

From launching a business in the wake of redundancy to building a growing facilities management company rooted in purpose, people and community, Right FM’s journey is anything but ordinary.

Founded in early 2023 by Venesa Coodien and her business partner Stuart Robertson, Right FM has quickly established itself as a flexible, values-led provider of facilities management and compliance services across Bedfordshire and beyond. But for Venesa, success has never just been about growth - it has always been about doing things the right way.

A new report on a pioneering scheme for business-led skills planning in England has identified a pressing need to better engage Generation Z with the workplace.   


The analysis of Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) found they have engaged thousands of people and employers in the training and education that firms desperately need.