What will the election mean to your business?

I was asked the question in the gym in the morning after the polls closed and the change of government was already certain. The result was unsurprising in so far as it reflected the pre-election polls, but the reality also shines a spotlight on our version of democracy. The winning party was voted for by 33.7% of those who voted and only 60% of the electorate chose to vote.

The result was to give the winning party a majority of 172 and consequently an almost unprecedented power to act and barely one in five of us wanted it to happen.

So, what about the question? How will the new government affect our business? I don’t know.

We want to grow and so does the Government. The problem is that the Government wants to focus on the NHS and the many other pressure points in daily life from care to housing to railways and simultaneously to make strategic preparations for defence and climate change. Where will the money come from and how will the Government stimulate growth in our business?

It is easy to see how they can make our business more difficult. Increasing the amount of working time that is devoted to social and personal discretion will directly reduce the time available for growing output. The application of new EU regulations which reduce the quantity of new chemical compounds that can be produced, imported or used without expensive registration will restrict our ability to enter new markets or continue in existing ones. Can the Government see the danger and resist the temptation to make our business more difficult?

So, what could they do that is going to make it easier or less expensive to do more? We need willing, capable and competent people to make the products that our sales efforts have called for. How can the Government help us find them?

We shouldn’t wait around and hope for any help. We must find our own way!