LONDON: Cornwall Chamber of Commerce is to address the Government’s aspirations for increased productivity in Britain at a half day conference supported by Cornwall College Business.
In July 2015, the Government launched a plan to fix the foundations of the British economy. In a speech launching the campaign, Secretary of State for Business, Sajid Javid said that Britain’s productivity – the rate of output per hour worked, is well below its potential.
According to the Government, in manufacturing terms it now takes a worker in the UK five days to produce what his or her counterpart in Germany can deliver in four.
But the case for increased productivity covers a wide range of different factors and affects businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce said: “In a more industrial age the problem could be solved by laying on extra shifts to keep the machines whirring 24/7, upgrading the equipment, putting employees on overtime and so on.
“But if you ask the average SME owner in the Service sector how to increase productivity, most don’t know.”
Rail strikes, poor internet connection, traffic jams, lack of flexibility in the labour market due to limited housing, a lack of skilled workers and more are all having a knock on effect on Britain’s output.
According to Mr Javid, productivity isn’t an obscure measure only of interest to economists – it affects everyone in one way or another.
In his speech, the Secretary of State said: “If we could match USA for productivity, it would boost our GDP by 31% – that’s equivalent to £21,000 a year for every household in the UK.”
Cornwall Chamber of Commerce’s Productivity conference will take place on November19 between 1.30pm-6pm at Cornwall College’s Camborne campus.
Mr Conchie added: “We have a great set of speakers lined up for this important event aimed at SMEs in the service sector; all will be addressing the Government’s aspirations for Britain and will look at how Cornwall’s businesses can boost productivity regardless of sector, in easy-to-understand language.
“A rise in productivity means better standards of living, so it’s really important that our businesses take responsibility and look at what they can do to improve their output and help Cornwall’s economy.”
