Helen Wylde-Archibald, CEO of Devon Chamber of Commerce, reflects on a decade of challenges facing Devon businesses and explains why resilience is the key to thriving, not just surviving, in a world where uncertainty has become the norm..
As I write this, summer is beginning to give way to autumn, a season I personally love for its colourful, busy feel and chance of new beginnings.
For many of us in Devon who enjoy gardening, it has been a challenging season. Weeks of heat, dry ground and unpredictable weather have left even well-established plants struggling. I’ve spent much of the summer carrying watering cans, moving pots into shade, and wondering whether some parts of the garden would ever recover.
Yet something always surprises me.
The plants that survive are not necessarily the biggest, the fastest-growing or the most impressive. Often, they are the ones with the strongest roots. They bend, adapt, conserve energy, and find a way through until conditions improve.
In many ways, I think Devon businesses are much the same.
The late Vita Sackville-West once wrote:
“The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always enterprising and never satisfied. They always look forward to the day that they can do better than they have ever done before.”
I cannot think of a better description of the businesses I meet across Devon every week.
Despite every challenge thrown at them, they continue to innovate, invest, employ more talented people, and look for new opportunities. They keep going. They find a way.
But it would also be wrong to pretend that the last decade has been easy.
Many businesses tell me they feel tired.
Not because of a single event or crisis, but because there has been little time to recover from one challenge before the next arrives.
Since 2016, businesses have navigated Brexit, COVID-19, global supply chain disruption, the energy crisis, inflationary pressures, changing international trade conditions, workforce shortages, and rising employment costs.
At the same time, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, digital technology and changing customer expectations are transforming how businesses operate.
It can sometimes feel as though the ground beneath us is constantly shifting.
That is why this autumn Devon Chamber is launching our new Resilience Campaign.
Not because we believe businesses should become more cautious.
Not because we believe the answer is simply to cut costs or retreat from growth.
Quite the opposite.
Our concern is that too many organisations are beginning to make defensive decisions rather than growth decisions.
They are delaying recruitment.
Postponing investment.
Putting innovation on hold.
Waiting for certainty to return.
The problem is that certainty may never return in the form we once knew.
The world has changed.
The challenge now is not how we survive disruption.
The challenge is how we thrive in a world where disruption has become normal.
That is what resilience means.
At Devon Chamber, we define resilience as:
The ability of a business to anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from pressure whilst continuing to operate, grow and create value.
Resilience is not about avoiding risk.
It is about understanding it.
Preparing for it.
Responding to it.
And finding opportunities within it.
Over the coming months we will be launching a series of practical resources, events, webinars, resources and guides designed to help businesses strengthen their resilience across six key areas:
- Financial Resilience
- Workforce Resilience
- Digital Resilience
- Supply Chain Resilience
- Leadership & Governance Resilience
- Market & Commercial Resilience
These themes sit at the heart of the challenges Devon businesses are facing today, but they also represent some of our greatest opportunities.
Because whilst uncertainty dominates many of the headlines, there are also reasons to be optimistic.
Artificial Intelligence is creating new possibilities.
Export markets continue to offer growth opportunities.
Devolution is bringing new conversations about local decision-making.
Devon is becoming increasingly recognised for innovation in food production, clean energy, defence, marine technology, digital industries, advanced manufacturing creative and professional services.
We need to believe that the future is not something that happens to us. It is something we shape together.
As your Chamber, we cannot remove uncertainty.
We cannot prevent disruption.
But we can provide practical support, trusted advice, business intelligence, connections, and a community that helps businesses prepare for whatever comes next.
Above all, we can help ensure that Devon remains a place where businesses do more than survive.
They thrive.
As gardeners know, autumn is not the end of the growing season.
It is the time when we prepare the ground for next year.
That is exactly what this campaign is about.
Together, let’s build the foundations for stronger businesses, stronger communities, and a more resilient Devon economy.
Because good growth starts with resilience.
Over the coming weeks, we will be releasing new resources, practical business tools, events and webinars as part of our Resilience Campaign.
I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences and ideas. If you have a story to share, expertise to contribute or an insight that could help other businesses across Devon, please get in touch via our Resilience page.
Together we can build a more resilient Devon economy.
