Jackie Brierton presents: • Jackie refers to Growbiz Rural Survey taken in Autumn 2022 • 35% said in autumn 2022 the cost of living crisis had already affected their business by a lot • Some of the biggest issues businesses reported at that time were o Rising petrol or diesel costs o Increase in utility bills or heating oil o Increased costs from suppliers o Lack of orders • Other issues reported were rising staff costs and staff availability, rising food costs, difficulties with regulations • Issues believed by businesses to cause the most problems in the future were o Rising petrol or diesel costs o Increase in utility bills or heating oil o Increased costs from suppliers o Lack of orders • 44% of respondents also listed general wellbeing issues (e.g exhaustion, strain, mental health issues) as an anticipated problem in the near future • Help businesses called for to help develop and sustain their businesses included o Funding applications o Social media o Idea development and diversification o Communication potential price increases • Many businesses reported they genuinely did not know at the current stage whether their business would survive the economic effects of the current crisis • Jackie points out it is important to encourage more micro-businesses to look at procurement as an income stream • The growbiz survey is planned to repeat in 2023 to compare results • For calls to action Jackie suggests: o Providing more flexible business support and advice – lots of business support in Scotland however when there is a crisis we need to adapt o Rural proofing govt legislation o Improved access to funding o Helping SMEs to access procurement • Positively, Growbiz have had more enquiries the past 2 months to start new businesses than in the past 3 years Gillian thanks Jackie and passes to Julia Latif Julia presents: • Introduces her business Our House of Spice which she launched with her sister in 2012.