Impact of COVID-19 on business

In July 2020, Continuous Improvement Projects Ltd through a Co-Innovate Journeys collaborative project launched a survey bringing together academic expertise from Brunel University London and Middlesex University.

We set out to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on businesses, areas of concern and how organisations are dealing with them to support businesses and the Government in tapering their approach to achieving sustainable economic recovery.

A total of 16 different industries participated in this research project and the findings of this research provide an evidence-based perspective on how businesses are responding to the pandemic and planning for the post-COVID era.

This research is intended to support businesses and the Government in tapering their approach and will be used by the team of specialists at Continuous Improvement Projects (CIP) to reflect on their own strategy and target operating model so that they can adapt an approach to better support the future needs of businesses.

• Recommendations for immediate efforts to be focused on people and operations in order to achieve growth in the next 2 years: transformational changes will be required to operations, delivery of services and products, and technological infrastructure
• Recommendations on potential support packages and areas of focus for the Government to consider, based on recent survey data, lessons learned from the past, professional experience and respected academic models.
• New ways of working to consider: lean principles to drive efficiency, improved profitability and maintain optimal quality is a key enabler to maximising economic recovery. Digitalisation as the solution to sustainability