Making growth happen in 2020: New Years Resolutions from SMEs across the country

Firstly we’d like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year!

There have already been many expert predictions about what topics will be most important to businesses in 2020. But we wanted to hear from businesses themselves have planned for the year ahead, and what their main priorities will be.

Bdaily spoke with a number of businesses from across the North East, Yorkshire and London to find out what matters most to them and their visions for the next 12 months.

Northumberland Day

“At Northumberland Day, our mission for 2020 is to build on the phenomenal success we have already had in engaging thousands of people in the celebration of Northumberland’s county day and winning sox awards and enjoying over 20 award shortlistings to date.

“As we are a completely privately-run initiative, we want to do that by getting more businesses involved, either as sponsors of initiatives or of our unique Northumbie Awards, designed by local glass artist Helen Grierson.

“If businesses could see the joy that our county day celebrations bring to school children, communities, those who don’t normally get a chance to socialise with neighbours and others in their localities and businesses who do get involved, we are sure they would be blown away by the benefits they could be deriving from working with us.

“We have a phenomenal idea for 2020 but, with no funding, we rely on goodwill to help us lay on initiatives that bring Northumbrians together. Sometimes that is sponsorship, sometimes it is a new product launch that we can use to build excitement and sometimes it is an initiative that a business lays on in support.

“We have had two weeks of exciting things going on in each of the past three years, but we want to top that in year four and already have a new beer festival on th cards, thanks to the Alnwick Rum Company and A Taste of Northumbria.

“We just need proud Northumbrians to step up and help us spread more joy and that does not exclude anyone in Newcastle who considers themselves a Northumbrian!

“We simply want to have two weeks of amazing celebrations and get Northumberland Day itself (May 24 2020) trending on Twitter, as it did in 2019 and generating the wonderful comments and feedback that touch our hearts.

“We’ll be ramping it up on our website as we head into the new year, and hope to hear from proud Northumbrian individuals, schools and businesses who want to join in.”

CabinBookers

“Expansion and ethics are important to us in 2020. We aim to expand to include properties in Central Europe and the Balkans whilst being mindful of our own sustainability and that of our customers.

“New features planned for 2020 include updating all cabin listings to include the nearest railway station. This is in response to the growing demand for eco-friendly transport and our customers desire to avoid air travel. We will also be partnering with a tree planting organisation to offset our own carbon emissions.

“Regarding expansion, the Balkans is a priority area for us. Countries such as Slovenia, Bosnia, and Romania have stunning mountain ranges and make great places for a countryside holiday. We want to introduce our customers to some undiscovered gems and whet their appetite for a cabin break in these fabulous locations.

“We will also be publishing a guide to rail travel in Europe, making travelling to these places easy.

“Our focus on sustainability will hopefully serve us well in a business sense, but our priority is to remain loyal to our company ethos - that nature based breaks promote wellbeing and should be accessible and affordable for all.”

Marshall’s Mill

At Marshall’s Mill and The Round Foundry, our priority for 2020 is to bring our creative and digital community together through a series of events that promote not only the local area, but also the wellbeing of our tenants and the heritage that we are lucky enough to be surrounded by each day.

We’ve got big plans to take our extremely popular annual Halloween event to the next level this year, as well as hosting professional skills workshops, socials and event sports events.

Afterall, it will be a summer of sport with the Euros and the Olympics taking place.There are big plans on the South Bank to develop the area, so we want to make sure that our voice is still heard. Marshall’s Mill has been standing since 1784, but our current community has been thriving since its regeneration in 2003 and we are looking to continue to grow and solidify that in the coming year.

We’re also looking to support our chosen charities, Emmaus Leeds and Leeds Mind, through fundraising activities and volunteering efforts. As well as this, we are making it a priority to be more sustainable through green initiatives as well as educating members of the community as to how they can be more environmentally conscious.

Sheards Wealth Management

“The turn of the year offers a perfect opportunity to review the past 12 months and to anticipate what might happen in the year ahead. A lot has happened in 2019 in the financial services industry.

“The pace of change is increasing and shows no sign of slowing anytime soon. As part of our growth plans, we have mapped a strategy to meet our 2020 and beyond goals by using a mix of strategies and processes. These include:

-A lead generation company that will deliver leads in the first quarter -The increased use of our own technology that allows us to transact non-advised business -Creating and maintaining links with other advisers who cannot or have chosen not to effect -Defined Benefit transfers -A robust annual review process for our clients that will also result in more new business -Seeking high calibre advisers to join our team -Seeking a mortgage consultant to join our team -Maintain regular meetings to see if we are on track to meet our goals

“Hopefully with these in place we are on track for another successful year in 2020!”

Inspired Quill Publishing

“In 2020, Inspired Quill Publishing aim to give a minimum of 20 hours of free mentoring to young people who are interested in getting involved in the publishing industry (as part of our mission to make the industry less opaque).

“We’ll also be finishing off our Eco Pledge, and want to become one of the first book publishers in the UK to become 100 per cent carbon neutral through diligent research, resourcing and taking real action.

“Of course, we’ll always continue to champion amazing novels which are non-tokenistically diverse - 2020 is the year we stop being quietly working in the background and aim to build the platform our authors (and readers!) deserve.”