The Coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on all of us, particularly in our professional lives. It is deeply sad to see so many redundancies and even business closures. Fortunately, after an announcement on the 30th July from Simon Clarke MP, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, thousands of businesses are set to benefit from 20 million of new government funding. This is part of the Government’s strategy to help business bounce back from the crippling effects of the pandemic.
The funding works by offering small and medium sized businesses the opportunity to access grants between the amounts £1,000 - £5,000. The Government hope for this to enable them the chance to upgrade equipment and access new technology to improve productivity and offset the damage of the lockdown.
The funding comes in addition to an unprecedented package of Government support, including the £2 billion Kickstart Scheme; a programme which will generate thousands of new, completely funded jobs for young people across the country, as well as £1.6 billion invested in improving work support programmes, training and apprenticeships.
Some of the comments from Simon Clarke MP on the funding include:
“We have always said that we would stand behind our businesses and communities as we rebuild following the coronavirus pandemic. This new funding does exactly that.”
“Businesses will be able to use these new grants to pay for the expertise, equipment and technology they need to adapt, recover and rebuild.”
“Small and medium sized businesses are the beating heart of communities; they provide employment and contribute significantly to local economies and we are determined to give them the support they need to continue to thrive.”
Why should businesses make the upgrade to their technology?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, technology played a crucial role in keeping businesses running and functional. A nearly overnight transition to a remote working model highlighted the weaknesses in business IT systems, and the need for some much-needed technology upgrades and changes to cloud-based solutions such as Hosted Workspaces, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams and many more. Whilst there has for some time been a gradual shift to flexible and remote working, the pandemic has accelerated this change. Now, team collaboration, video-conferencing, and remote access are absolutely essential.
Using the grants to upgrade the technology in an organisation will be beneficial for several reasons. Firstly, outdated technology slows your staff down, constantly frustrating them with bottlenecks and workarounds. It will also not be able to cope with the demands of modern cloud-enabled tools that will be critical should further lockdowns come. Upgrading will mean that businesses have access to the latest tools, which ensure preparedness for whatever lies ahead.
In addition, upgrading technology also comes with significant cyber-security benefits. There has been a sharp rise in cyber-attacks throughout the pandemic, with bad actors taking advantage of those with weak cyber-security defences in place. Access to the grants will therefore give organisations the opportunity to invest in tools that will help guarantee their business is protected, no matter where their staff are working. For instance, IT departments may choose to use a more advanced Antivirus Software such as Sophos Endpoint Protection, rather than a free or lower priced solution as this is all they could afford prior to the grant announcement. These lower range Antivirus Software sometimes do not detect newer, more sophisticated cyber-attacks, leaving businesses at higher risk of being compromised.
These are uncertain times, and it is understandable for business owners to be keeping a close eye on their outgoings. However, this Government grant will no doubt be a valuable tool to encourage inward investment and prolonged growth. In this blog, we have discussed the value of utilising this unique opportunity to upgrade your technology.
At the entrust IT Group, we have been helping businesses get the most from their IT investments for over a decade and have provided a number of IT solutions to our customers to help them work throughout the pandemic. For example, by recommending and implementing Microsoft Teams for a customer of ours, they were able to maintain face-to-face communication with clients throughout the lockdown and as a result, hit 65% of their normal turnover in March, when they had expected no more than 20%. If you are interested in claiming from the Government grant scheme, why not get a free technology audit from our team to ensure you are well armed with a clear plan with how you should use your funding. Get in touch with the team today on 0330 002 0045 or email enquiries@entrustit.co.uk.
