At has been, in no uncertain terms, a challenging decade for businesses in the UK. Numerous once-in-a-lifetime events have happened concurrently, with inarguably detrimental impacts for economic growth, spending and business longevity. 2024 is set to be no different, with fresh challenges facing even the most established of corporate enterprises. What are the key challenges these corporations are set to face?
Economic Uncertainty
The primary challenge facing every business in the UK relates to the wider economic landscape in which they sit. The past three years have been a rollercoaster of rising wholesale costs and rising borrowing rates, making investment and growth more difficult. The recent announcement of technical recession also underscores an environment in which spending is low, and industry integrity less clear than ever.
Brexit
Much of the economic uncertainty that businesses have been facing in recent years is ineluctably linked to a single common factor: Brexit. The UK’s withdrawal from the EU has been a fractious event since the initial referendum vote in 2016; it was only in 2020, though, that the true impacts of Brexit were laid bare, as the formal withdrawal agreement came into effect.
The result so far has been a quagmire of barriers to trade and difficult foreign relations, causing spikes in cost for raw materials, and – crucially – limiting the reach of newer businesses beyond the UK itself.
Taxation
Tax challenges have always been a factor in corporate strategy and growth, but 2024 is a year that presents unique challenges in this regard. The Conservative government’s approach to tax has been febrile over the past three years, with ping-ponging policy announcements as Prime Ministers came and went.
2024 is little different, with further changes to corporate tax rates expected to increase many business’ exposure. Meeting these challenges is little more complicated than engaging expert third parties in the field, but the costs associated are themselves something to address.
Technology
The breakneck pace at which technological advancements is, at once, a blessing and a curse. New technologies enable corporations to remain agile, and to re-establish themselves against well-situated competitors. However, onboarding new technologies is also a costly endeavour, and a gamble to boot; some technologies are already being superseded, while others are fading out of the limelight. In a year set to be dominated by conversations around AI, where should a corporation put its research and development money?
Sustainability
Finally, we come to the challenge of our times: climate change. Sustainability issues have been at the forefront of corporate conversations for years now, with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategies being developed within every major business. There are several angles from which to consider sustainability, though, from compliance with new green regulations to the appeasement of consumers and preservation of public opinion.
Feature image by Expect Best on pexels
