Business community encouraged to share insights to help shape council plans and support

Business owners and operators are being urged to take part in Westmorland and Furness Council's annual business survey. 

The council's Economic Development and Regeneration team run the survey and are asking everybody who owns or operates a business in Westmorland and Furness to contribute to help ensure their views and insight to inform future economic support strategies and policies. 

Councillor Jonathan Brook, Leader of Westmorland and Furness Council and Cabinet Member for the Economy, said: "The information we gather through our annual business survey is crucial to give us a clear picture of what is happening now, as well as an indication of businesses' future plans and commercial land and premises requirements, which means we can offer support and advice where required and also develop our strategies and policies based on first-hand evidence. 

"Businesses themselves know best what they need and their insight and intelligence will inform our policies and strategies and help us target our work effectively where it is most needed to make Westmorland and Furness a great place to live, work and thrive." 

The information gathered will help the council to better plan for future employment development and to understand the opportunities and challenges facing the business community. 

Submitted responses will support the development of the Westmorland and Furness Local Plan that will set out how much development (e.g. new homes and employment sites) is needed in local communities across the district. 

This will help ensure that new development is built in the right places and in a way that balances the economic, social and environmental impacts. It will set out the councils strategy for allocating land for employment, housing and other development. It will also allocate sites for development. 

Issues covered in the survey include levels of confidence for the next 12 months, projected staffing levels, anticipated future business premises needs and the importance of addressing climate change. 

Businesses will receive information about the survey by post and are encouraged to take part digitally by scanning the enclosed QR code or go to: https://www.investinwestmorlandandfurness.co.uk/survey/ 

The council have said that almost two thirds of respondents to last year's survey were confident about the next 12 months. Almost a third of responding businesses reported an increase in turnover in 2023/24 from 2022/23, whilst almost a third again reported that their turnover remained the same. 

And one fifth indicated that they expected to employ more people over the next 12 months.