Skills shortages are causing problems for many SMEs, Allica Bank roundtable is told

The Yorkshire Post and Allica Bank hosted a roundtable which analysed how an agile approach to delivering financial support can help SMEs create jobs and unleash economic growth in our region.

During the discussion, Abi Liddle, the chief operations officer at the Leeds-based marketing technology company Modo25, highlighted the intense competition within her sector to find the right staff.

She added: “We want to build a great company with strong values that proves to be attractive to talented staff.

“One of the advantages of working for a smaller company is that you know that as part of the team, you can play an integral part in the company’s success, which might not be the case in a larger company.

“You are not just a number. We have to ensure we offer a good package and progression in order to attract the right staff.”

She said the business had launched the prototype of its digital marketing platform ASK BOSCO at one of the toughest times imaginable, in early March 2020, just days before lockdown.

She said the company had succeeded in accessing angel investment and the company’s credibility was also boosted by a successful application for a grant from Innovate UK in 2021.

She said Modo25 had found it relatively straightforward to convince angel investors to have faith in the business, although she acknowledged it could be hard to find grant funding.

Ms Liddle said that AI (Artificial Intelligence) could be a useful tool for smaller businesses because it gave them the opportunity to produce high-quality videos and imagery that previously might only have been available to much larger businesses.

She added: “You still need people to curate that content and make sure it appeals to humans; people can tell when a video or picture doesn’t feel authentic.”

Charles Draper, the group managing director of Sure Group, which operates in the recruitment, logistics, commercial and healthcare sectors, said skills shortages were one of the biggest problems facing the sector.

He added: “It can be a struggle to recruit good people into the business so we make ourselves as attractive as possible to the best candidates by offering benefits such as flexible working.

“The cost-of-living crisis has also been a struggle for some of our staff.”

He said some companies operating in labour-intensive markets were stuck between a rock and a hard place because they wanted to pay staff fairly during the cost-of-living crisis but were also facing rising prices.

He also questioned the wisdom and fairness of having the same rate of corporation tax for businesses of all sizes.

He said the growth of AI could help the logistics sector operate more efficiently but there is no substitute for human intervention in key roles.

​​One of the participants in the debate, William Draper the healthcare director of Sure Group, highlighted the financial problems facing local government, although spending on health and social care has been ringfenced.

He said he was a great believer in the power of the Yorkshire brand, particularly in Hull where Sure Group has established a strong base and developed a further seven branches.

He added: "Hull stands at the end of the M62 corridor which means it can be overlooked by major national companies.

“I believe it gave us the space to grow and be innovative. Hull is a real powerhouse for us.”

He said Sure Group had also invested in a new app to help improve its performance with the help of Think 360 in Hull.

This is the latest in a series of articles about the roundtable, which was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Leeds and chaired by Greg Wright, the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post.