2020 was nothing short of a nightmare for businesses. When COVID-19 hit us over a year ago now, nobody knew what to do or how to handle it. Between lockdowns and shutdowns, businesses have been hit hard. Staff had to be furloughed, some businesses had to completely close for extended periods or for good, and others were barely getting by.

But that was then, and this is now. Nearly 14 months after the UK went into its first lockdown, businesses are starting to get back on their feet, and the economy is slowly but surely, beginning to recover.

With that in mind, this post is going to explore some of the ways that businesses have been adapting over the last year in order to survive this touch and go period for businesses and the economy alike.

What state are we currently in?

2020 brought havoc on the UK economy, with the headline gross domestic product (GDP) falling by a massive 9.9% in 2020 alone. This makes it twice the size of the next largest decline - 4.0% in 2009. This is largely due to weaker services output for last year and shows that productions, manufacturing, and construction all experienced similar declines last year.

As it currently stands, the UK economy remains 8.6% smaller than its size at the end of 2019. To put that in a monetary perspective, this equates to every single person in the UK being around £3,000 worse off than they were in 2019.

And yet, despite the devastating effects of COVID-19, the economy grew by 1% in the fourth quarter of 2020. Monthly growth in December of last year was at 1.2%, despite almost all the country remaining in lockdown, which just goes to show that people and businesses are definitely making strides to adapt to survive.

With that said, what adaptations are businesses making to get customers in the door and cash in the bank?

Retail and grocery

The retail sector, in all its forms, has suffered hugely thanks to the pandemic. While it’s true that online shopping has been on the up and up for years now, that doesn’t mean it’s the answer to everything. After all, there are some businesses that simply can’t get the same level of return from online shopping alone. So, how is the world of retail adapting?

If you’ve been to a shop recently, you’re going to notice several things. Masks have been mandatory for almost the entirety of this pandemic, so it’s not a new thing by any means – but it’s still a huge adaptation for many people.

Limiting numbers is also a big change for stores that previously had no limits on capacity, can now only let in a tiny fraction of their customer base. However, as I’m sure you’d agree: a small number of customers is better than none at all!

Most stores now have mandatory sanitation at the entry, providing hand sanitiser at the entry, as well as some form for disinfectant you need to use to disinfect your trollies and baskets. They’re also likely to have hand-sanitiser on every corner. Supermarkets and larger stores and shopping centres, in particular, have taken to offering hand sanitising stations around every corner. Just ask Tesco, who installed a whopping 11,000 Lifebuoy stations across its UK stores!

Hospitality

Perhaps one of the sectors where we’ve seen the most adaptation to survive is within hospitality. Restaurants, pubs, bars, cafes – all of these have been closed to the public for many months now. This all changed back at the end o April across the country, with many interesting adaptations being made.

Pubs and restaurants were the first to reopen, ahead of even retail, last month. Though, there was a pretty big stipulation – you could only reopen for outdoor dining and drinking. This was a pretty big adaptation for many hospitality venues; after all, not all of them have the space or resource to serve customers outdoors. However, in true British style, we have adapted. Many places have taken to using the garden spaces, and even car parks, as an outdoor eating area to draw customers back in.

Table service and QR codes are both technology adaptations that, before COVID, many places had never even heard of. Allowing customers to scan a QR code that shows the menu, thus limiting the need for a physical menu and contact, has been praised by the public. As has the ability to order your food and drinks to your table via an app, meaning as few interactions with people as possible.

Creativity comes out on top

For those businesses that haven’t been able to reopen yet, creativity over the last year has been what’s kept them alive. British businesses have continued to show their ingenuity and determination to stay afloat with increasingly creative methods.

The rise of zoom

Zoom has become a huge business platform for so many businesses over the last year. The fitness industry has been one that has made fantastic use of the service, using zoom to reinvent itself. Personal training classes, dance groups, yoga, workouts, Zumba, meditations - you name it, and there’s been an online zoom class for it.

The DIY and at-home approach

Many businesses have been using the at-home method to keep their customers engaged over lockdown as well as introducing a bit of social interaction back into people’s lives. Over the course of the last year, I have seen all manner of businesses taking a typically in-person experience and turning it digital.

Where does that leave us?

Nobody could have ever really prepared for something like the COVID-19 crisis, but after a little time, businesses seem to have found ways to adapt. There has been some business that, unfortunately, will have to close their doors because of this pandemic, but all hope is not lost.

Slowly but surely, the economy is recovering, and things are starting to get better. Hospitality and non-essential retail have only been open for a matter of weeks, and yet many UK businesses have been reporting better than expected trading.

In the first 3 days after reopening, visits to retail and entertainment venues across the country were up 50% from the previous week and were within 24% of that in January 2020. This points to a faster recovery than after the first lockdown all those months ago.

So, is this a sign that the economy is on its slow road to recovery? I like to think so.