WEST
MIDL
ANDS
CO
MP
AN
YG
UIDE31
Bu
il
di
ng
res
ili
en
ce
mu
st
be
al
on
g-
te
rm
st
ra
te
gy
Ensur
ing
ab
usiness
re
mains
in
to
pf
or
mi
sn
ot
just
about
seek
ing
out
gr
ow
th
oppor
tunities
.
Ian
Gr
ea
ve
s
,
par
tner
at
KP
MG
in
Bir
mingham
looks
at
other
ar
eas
that
count
Achieving
sustainable
gr
owth
is
on
the
agenda
for
all
managers
running
local
businesses.
While
Iw
ould
be
the
first
person
to
advocate
that
thiss
hould
be
the
case,
I
would
also
be
the
first
person
to
state
that
so
too
should
be
strateg
ies
to
make
the
business
as
re
silie
nt
to
ac
hange
in
market
for
ces
as
is
possible.
In
today8217
sg
lobal
busin
ess
envir
onment
ther
ea
re
so
many
factor
st
hat
can
influence
ab
usiness.
As
ar
esult,
managers
must
ensur
et
heir
organisa
tion
is
running
as
efficie
ntly
as
possible
all
of
the
time,
and
not
just
at
moments
of
either
economi
cs
lowdow
no
ro
ther
market
difficulties.
The
best
businesses
ar
et
hose
that
ar
e
made
re
silie
nt
thr
ough
an
appr
oach
to
re
ducing
costs
on
an
ongoing
basis.
This
appr
oach
works
better
than
short
term
or
ad
hoc
strateg
ies
as
they
take
a
mor
eh
olistic
and
long-term
view
of
the
business
and
its
goals.
Ther
ei
sn
od
oubt
that
some
managers
ar
eal
ittle
wary
of
implement
ing
cost
saving
measur
es
as
they
feel
it
either
involves
job
losses
or
cr
eates
instab
ility
for
both
employees
and
custom
ers
as
it
could
be
an
indicato
rt
hat
the
business
is
struggli
ng.
In
re
ality
,h
owever
,t
his
is
not
always
the
case.
By
ensuring
that
ab
usiness
re
gularly
looks
atw
ays
in
which
itc
an
eliminate
unnecessary
costs,
no
large-
scale
plans
will
need
to
be
implemented.
So
far
this
year
,l
ocal
companies
have
been
hit
with
an
umber
of
exter
nal
factor
st
hat
will
have
an
impact
upon
their
bottomli
ne.
Firstl
y,
the
cr
edit
crunch
which
followed
the
sub-prime
mortgage
crisis
in
the
US,
is
making
debt
mor
ee
xpensive
and
for
those
companies
who
cannot
access
funding
fr
om
alternative
ro
utes,
this
could
have
as
ignifican
ta
ffect
on
a
gr
owth
strategy
.
Secondly
,t
he
global
and
UK
economi
es
ar
es
lowing.
When
you
consid
er
this
in
line
with
inflatio
n
incr
easing
and
consu
mer
confid
ence
decr
easing,
the
curr
ent
busin
ess
envir
onment
is
looking
difficu
lt.
To
pr
eserve
bottomli
ne,
businesses
must
look
at
alter
native
gr
owth
opportunit
ies,
but
also
put
in
place
strateg
ies
that
can
make
significa
nt
savings
for
the
business.
For
example
,ab
usiness
looking
to
re
duce
its
cost
base
to
gain
long
term
benefit
without
damaging
near
-term
pr
ofitabili
ty
has
an
umber
of
options,
includi
ng
ar
eview
of
their
pr
ocur
ement
pr
ocesses,
supp
ly
chain
efficiencies,
as
well
as
re
ducing
the
cost
of
employm
ent
and
ar
eview
of
their
corporate
pension
scheme.
Alternativ
ely
,ab
usiness
might
want
to
look
at
impr
oving
efficie
ncy
by
optimisi
ng
the
use
of
assets,
incr
easing
the
availa
bility
of
cash
for
investme
nt
or
making
the
differ
ent
parts
of
the
gr
oup
work
better
togethe
r.
In
additio
nt
ot
h
is,
managers
shou
ld
also
look
at
how
they
adapt
to
new
re
gulation
and
re
spond
in
the
most
effec
tive
and
effici
ent
way
.
Due
to
the
ongoing
natur
eo
ff
actors
such
as
these,
corporates
cannot
look
to
re
view
on
an
ad
hoc
basis.
For
any
business
looking
to
build
and
maintain
re
silie
nce,
long-te
rm
plans
must
be
made
and
ac
ultur
eo
fo
ngoing
re
view
embedded
within
the
organisation.
Af
ailur
et
od
os
ow
ill
minimise
the
value
that
any
of
these
activities
can
bring.
Manager
sm
ust
ensur
et
heir
or
ganisa
tion
is
running
as
e64259cien
tly
as
po
ssible
all
of
the
time
,a
nd
not
just
at
momen
ts
of
either
ec
onomic
slo
wd
ow
no
ro
ther
mar
ke
td
i64259culties
Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32Page 33Page 34Page 35Page 36Page 37Page 38Page 39Page 40 Produced by PageSuite