Covid-19 prompted a wave of innovation as businesses pivoted their operations to survive, according to a Lloyds Bank survey.
Almost half (49%) of Welsh businesses said the pandemic forced them to be more creative and innovative in finding new areas of growth.
More than half (52%) have made changes to their business since the start of the pandemic, such as making operational adjustments (23%) and offering products and services online for the first time (22%).
Crucially, a significant number of businesses are benefiting from the pivots, with 49% saying that they will keep their changes in the long term. And it is already paying dividends with a fifth (18%) of firms saying that their operational changes have boosted revenues and profits.
Pet Place, which owns five stores in North Wales, changed its business model during the pandemic to survive. With its stores experiencing reduced footfall, it successfully scaled up its online and click + collect services after a 600 per cent increase in online orders at the beginning of lockdown.
Sion Pritchard, director at Pet Place, says the change in direction was vital to help the firm make the most of the online opportunity during the pandemic.
“Our online presence has always been designed to supplement the revenue generated by our physical stores so the sudden and vast increase in online orders presented a major challenge. While we were able to successfully redeploy our resources, we wouldn’t have been able to move so quickly or meet the working capital demands of such an exercise without the emergency funding we received.”
Amanda Dorel, regional director for Wales at Lloyds Bank said: “Welsh businesses are incredibly resilient and, as the research shows, so many have been innovative in finding new ways of surviving and thriving over a difficult period.
“With the country only just emerging from the end of all coronavirus restrictions, many businesses still face some uncertainty – some may only just be opening their doors fully for the first time in 2021. We’ll be by their side to ensure they can access the help and support they need to recover and ultimately to grow.”
The UK and sector picture
Across the UK half of businesses (48%) said that the pandemic had forced them to be more innovative and 56% made changes to their operations as a result. The most common changes included selling more online (21%) and adapting shift patterns (20%).
Manufacturers were most likely to make changes to their operating patterns (28% vs 20% UK average) and to expand the products they offered (22% vs 17%). Retail was the top sector for expanding online offerings (25% vs 21% UK average), buoyed by the shift to online consumer spending.
