CEO Amanda Fergusson of the Greeting Cards Association and CEO Of The Giftware Association Sarah Ward outside the Bank of England  

Sarah Ward, CEO of The Giftware Association was once gain invited to attend one of Bank of England’s Genesis meetings, to discuss the threats and opportunities to SMES in today social and political environment. 

Sarah Ward hasattended previous years meetings alongside other association bodies such as theGreeting Card Association, The Car Park Association and various othersmembership bodies with the unique opportunity to share their members views onthe current positions of SMES and what is affecting them with SMES propping upthe UK. 

There are 5.7m SMEs inthe UK which account for over 99% of private sector firms and 60% of total UKprivate sector employment. SMEs also account for 73% of all net private sectorjob creation in the UK, creating about 2m jobs since 2010. With these SMESessentially the backbone of industry in the UK, Discussions at the meetingfocused a lot on Brexit and what will happen after and how can an SME prepare. 

Sarh Ward commented “ It’s an incredibly proud moment when you get to stand up in front of a committee to present The Giftware Associations members views. It is sometimes the only chance that these government initiates get to touch upon real data and opinions from the UKS many SMEs. They learn a huge amount from what we present, and it gives me an opportunity to also learn what is happening in other industries that can affect the giftware world. ”

The Giftware Association sent a survey out to its members prior to the meeting to collate our members  views, and the general snapshot of the companies who participated was that there was a very real fear of how Brexit will affect them and their businesses.  The results painted a picture of an industry that is worried about the future, with ‘Confidence being significantly lower than the previous 6 months’ by a massive 71%, and a similar result in ‘Lower expected business growth’ at 54% than that previous 6 months. And as a direct correlation to Brexit, 52% of members surveyed expected the export environment to stay flat, probably whilst in the transitions stage, where the government and the EU will be working towards a hopefully shared goal. The one opinion that is shared by the majority is that the cost of exporting and business will rise, and the smaller the company the more they will suffer. 

To find out more about the results of the survey or to request a copy then please get in touch with a member of the Giftware Association team who will be happy to help and share this data.