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

With so many major new projects planned in Bedfordshire, there’s a strong sense in the county and its businesses of a new future on our doorstep.

It’s a groundswell of transformation that will bring with it wealth, job creation, strengthened infrastructure, greater connectivity, extensive new business opportunities for the regional supply chain, and – not least - the reinvigoration of communities and places.

You can never rely on the British weather to deliver a bit of sun when you might expect it most, but here at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce things are heating up, as we unveil the finalists in our forthcoming 2025 SME Bedfordshire Business Awards!

And what a hugely diverse and varied cohort they are covering everything from dog grooming businesses, to hotels, to IT support – and just about every type and size of company in between.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” This famous quote, often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, is the essence of the entrepreneur in a nutshell. See a need, fulfil it profitably, drive your vision.

But where do entrepreneurs go to make connections, build relationships, get advice and a helping hand, and find new prospects?

The drive to promote economic growth across the UK has long been a key focus for policymakers, with ambitious plans designed to stimulate business expansion and regional development.

As an accredited Chamber with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce remains committed to helping local businesses understand and benefit from these evolving opportunities.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, unveiled on 26th March, is a challenging one for businesses across the UK – with some redeeming features.

The overall impression is one of an economy failing to grow and perform, and business – the motor of that performance - being given precious few concessions to fuel it.

As Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), put it in their recent announcement, it’s as if we’re seeing firms “struggle to bloom”. The will is there but the way is lacking.

The 2025 SME Bedfordshire Business Awards are shaping up to steal the crown of the 2024 Awards - which were themselves the most successful of the Awards programmes to date.

But they wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our sponsors, so in this piece we’re going to make sure they get the recognition they deserve!

The next exciting chapter in the SME Bedfordshire Business Awards is already well underway!

As organiser and host, we at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce are building on the resounding success of last year’s Awards to deliver a programme worthy of successful local businesses that employ local people and serve our local communities.

As the 2025 Awards proclaim, ‘It’s Time to Celebrate You!’ – because you’re the beating heart of Bedfordshire business.

Whether it’s enhancing production efficiency, adopting cutting-edge technologies like automation, digital transformation, and AI, or driving sustainability initiatives, research and development (R&D) forms the backbone of innovation in manufacturing. In this thought leadership article, we delve into what HMRC is looking for in a validating manufacturing R&D tax relief claim.

As we step into a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past 12 months and set our sights on the opportunities ahead in 2025.

At Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, this moment of reflection is just as important for us as it is for the businesses we serve. So, let’s take a look back at the recent past and venture a look forward at what’s to come!

Competition is positive. It’s good for innovation, it’s good for motivation, and it’s good for customer choice. Yet the fact is that every one of your competitors could also potentially eat your lunch – or, at least, the tastiest bits of it.

And a quick look at our region paints a sobering picture. In Bedfordshire, 9,015 new businesses started in 2023, but the vast majority of these play into existing spaces – which, as a consequence, are becoming ever more crowded.

How, then, do you get ahead of these competitors?

Labour’s first Budget since 2010, announced yesterday, on 30^th October, certainly lived up to the hints the Government had been dropping over the past few weeks – but then any businessperson will understand you don’t find £40 billion in revenue shortfall without taking some pretty drastic measures.

Nonetheless, here at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, we do share the concern, expressed in an announcementreleased by Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), to which we belong.

Since the dawn of time, humans have formed groups, communities, societies, tribes. It helped them pool and trade resources, approach each other for help, and protect themselves against difficult conditions and predators.

And it’s really no different for businesses. Did you know, for example, that over 50,000 businesses in the UK are members of the British Chambers of Commerce, through their local Chamber (of which we at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce are one)?

The SME Bedfordshire Business Awards is coming to town again for its seventh year running – and this high-profile celebration of successful businesses in the local area now has a stronger connection to us here at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce than ever before.

Autumn is upon us and for many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, this time of year is turning out to be distinctly growth-focused – more spring than autumn, you might say!

In fact, according to recent research from business finance provider Novuna, 7 in 10 UK small firms are making growth plans, and in some sectors growth planning in the SME space has hit a three-year high.

Here at the Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, we know that cash flow is one of the top concerns for our members.  With late customer payments, seasonal slowdowns, weak invoicing and collection processes, it is a common challenge that has a significant impact on a business.

There’s a saying in business: bad cash flow sinks more companies than weak order books - and it’s as true today as ever.

Cash flow supports everything from everyday operations, to investment in equipment and technology, to shareholder dividends and loan repayments. Quite simply, without adequate cash flow, your business can’t function.

The work of Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce at the top table of Government, as an accredited member of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), is unrelenting – and a privilege to be a part of.

Lobbying and policy are possibly not the most exciting or glamorous elements of doing business, but in the background, they’re constantly working to influence decisions, sway opinion, and articulate your business’s hopes, fears, and interests, at local, regional, and national level.

Staff retention is a hot topic for today’s businesses – and the figures prove the point. On average, employee turnover rates in the UK have increased by 7.7% since 2019, and are estimated to increase even more in 2023, with a total predicted turnover rate of 35.6%.

Small businesses are stronger when they’re part of something bigger, but also when they’re part of something local. And with membership of the Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, you get the best of both worlds, as you’re also connected to the nationwide force for business that is the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Years ago, a proverb was inscribed over the fireplace of an old Bedfordshire pub: “Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No-one was there.”

It’s a reminder that, even in times of turmoil, all is often not what it threatens to be, and we believe that there are genuine signs that the coming year potentially holds hidden promise for businesses forearmed with the right knowledge and the right connections, despite the wider economic issues.

Here are a few examples of what’s on our radar.

The WTO’s World Trade Report, released at the recent COP27 summit, contains much to make us all proud of being businesspeople, because it sees trade as the potential cornerstone of sustainability and climate action – not the hindrance to it that it is often viewed as.

Chancellor Hunt’s turn at the despatch box on 17 November was, in many ways, noteworthy for the taxes he didn’t change, rather than those he did.

But it’s important for businesses to understand that the absence of changes to headline tax rates hides changes to thresholds and allowances below the surface – and these will affect how much of your business’s earnings you keep.

It’s no secret that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have had more than their share of tribulations recently – Brexit, Covid, and now soaring interest rates and energy costs.

But whilst you may be feeling shell-shocked, now is not the time for desperation - it’s the time for preparation.

If you ready your business for the tricky times ahead, you might even turn adversity into opportunity.

The Government’s emergency budget – described by them as “The Growth Plan” – is the most radical in decades, and its low-tax agenda and high borrowing has raised alarm in some quarters.

But for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular, there are plenty of changes that stand to deliver new benefits, both to the business directly, and through more attractive conditions for employees.

Here’s what’s changed – and what it means to many of Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce’s member businesses across the county.

For many UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the road is rough at the moment. We’ve spoken to our own expert members, and found some of the best resources on the web, to bring you these five tips for staying successful in a new and unpredictable world.

With the UK employment skills shortage extending across over 30 domains, according to the Government’s own figures, colleges and other institutions have a critical role to play in identifying where skills fall short and what needs to be done about it.

On 6^th February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne when the UK was exhausted from war and rationing. But on her watch, the economy soon began to boom. New shopping centres and housing were built, followed by the first motorway.

Companies that import and export are having a tough time recently with the disruption of Brexit, spiralling prices, and the war in Ukraine, so some positive news would be welcome. And on the surface, the recent reversal of planned import controls delivers this.

If you’ve been struggling to recruit the right people into your business recently, then you’re not alone. There is a ‘skills shortage’ in the UK, and between January and March 2022, vacancies rose to a record 1,288,000. This also comes against a backdrop of Brexit and a pandemic, both of which have been blamed for labour shortages. Some sectors have received particular attention, for example, the shortage of HGV drivers following the UK’s exit from the EU, and the difficulties in finding hospitality staff since the pandemic.