Task 10: Your creative enterprise

 Task 1: Business analysis tools 

SWOT analysis

PESTEL analysis - Economically the business might struggle for a while depending on the factors at the time, as the profit yield won't show itself for a while and any number of changes to the economy would make the stability of my business extremely volatile. Social factors are the most important to me as it is the whole idea around a social enterprise, even being included in the name. I will have to pay close attention to factors like employment, wealth and age when providing a service to the people and also to business partners. Technological factors like communication are vital to my businesses success, with lots of communication between different communities through marketing and outreach programs as well as communicating with partners effectively. Legally the factors I need to worry about involve employment and workers rights for any employees and clients, and the rights I have linked to the profiting off of successful clients. Health and safety when doing practical skills or in house productions is also required to be covered along with the proper insurances and liabilities.

Task 2: Type of Business in the UK 

My business will be registered as a social enterprise as its primary purpose is to generate profit from trained creative employees who will be invested in and trained by a large portion of that profit. Enough profit will be set back to comfortably support the business and its staff without disrupting the integrity of the social framework within the business' profit. Overall the business will work through a self-sustaining cycle where the business makes money off of the trainees and staff who will in turn be trained and paid through these gains.

Task 3: Business plans and models 

Task 4: Branding 

Mission statement - My mission statement is: "To develop and inspire new talent in local communities that don’t normally get the opportunities to cultivate their passion, and hire them out to professional productions to gain experience and an industry foothold"

Brand positioning - my brand position is "Local, self-sustaining and connected". The local theme is a big one, expressed through the brand image and even the name of the business with many links to the coast. Advertising will focus on the locality and connectedness of the brands identity, making reference to the nature and mission of the business overall.

Values and Drivers - The values behind my business are: Independence to inspire its trainees to experiment with their own ideas and projects while learning; Development as our mission is to develop talent; Creativity, which is really important to the art of film; Legacy for the hopeful long lasting effect the business has both on the community and the lives of the people its helped. These values are extremely important to me and it's key that all practices of the business follow suit. The current drivers for the business are most importantly these values as well as another driver in place in the form of the local area being in desperate need of creativity and support for creatives in the area.

Marketing - The business will be marketed mainly through social media, especially instagram, twitter, and to showcase actual business productions, TikTok. These apps and sites are key for targeting young people as they are the most used apps for a young demographic. Marketing will also be undertaken on Facebook to target the parents and older relatives of any aspiring youngsters to increase awareness further.

Task 5: Legislation and the creative industries 

The only legal considerations that my business needs to take active interest in would be talent releases for its trainees, and depending on the age of the trainee, child Labour laws would need to be observed closely. As well as these, GDPR has to be followed for any records kept on employees, partners or the public and public liability insurance for when trainees are working in the field. If any in-house productions are made then location releases, IP and copyright laws would then be observed and acted upon accordingly.

Task 6: The creative economy 

The specific industry my business lies within the sector is TV and Film. This purports to any and all jobs which specialise or have major involvement in the production of moving image productions for the big or small screen. My business lies in this industry as it trains people up in various TV and Film careers such as camera operating and screenwriting, as well as other equal importance, less appreciated jobs like production design and starter level jobs like tape loading and focus pulling. Overall the rocketing growth of the creative industries would hopefully bring fruitful opportunity to the business, and the decline in creative workers because of the covid-19 pandemic allows for more gaps to fill in the market.

Task 7: Regulatory frameworks 

The regulatory bodies my business would have to adhere to are OFCOM and the BBFC in relation to any productions for TV and Film. The BBFC Classification Framework is most notably under observation as any production would have to be pre-planned ahead of time as to what needs to be done to make the film commercially accessible to its target market. OFCOM is to be watched in the case of any TV productions or even films that eventually get aired on TV so an earlier time slot is guaranteed for the program. the Creative Industries Council is worth getting involved with as they work to break barriers and regulations to create inclusion and fully realise artistic vision.

Task 8: Other considerations for businesses 

Finance - For my business a good source of funding would be a grant from various companies, such as the BFI Film fund, channel 4 or the Arts Council projects grant. The option of a number of social enterprise funds are out there too, notably by the School of Social Entrepreneurs (SSE).

Insurance - for my business the most important insurance to have would be employer liability, which is demanded by law to have. After that the insurances I would need covered are equipment insurances on any and all equipment as some of it can be extremely expensive, public liability in the event of shooting in public spaces or with members of public on set and lastly professional indemnity insurance to cover any contractual disagreements with potential clientele or partners.

Business rates - The business rates for the local area for businesses valued up to £50,999 is 0.499p, while any businesses earning £51,000 and up is on 0.512p to the pound. The Great Yarmouth Council only offers reductions to businesses affected by covid, retailers or businesses setting up and renovating derelict buildings to operate their business out of.

Geography, transport and accessibility - In order to effectively fulfil my mission the business needs to be set up in an accessible location for the underprivileged youth I'm trying to outreach to, however this means setting up in a not so profitable area rather than in the city where everything will be more accessible for partners, clients and the city youth. Transport would be covered on most bases in town however as there is train access, multiple buses from all over the county and beyond and the walking distance from most areas of town is less than 20 minutes.

Task 6: The Creative Economy

 What are the creative industries? 

The creative industries are comprised of any industry that achieves its goals through creative means. Advertising as an example uses films for product placement, graphics for its poster ads and videography for its video ads. The main industries that make up the creative sector are as follows: Advertising; Architecture; Arts; Design; Fashion; Games; Music; TV and Film; Literature.

How many people are employed in the UK? 

Currently in the UK around 75.3% of people aged 16-64 are in employment based on statistics from august 2021 (at the time of writing it is November 18th 2021). In 2018 an estimated 2,040,000 jobs were in the creative industries, up 30.6% from 2011 which is way above the average UK growth of 10.1% in that same time period.

How much do the creative industries generate each year? 

The creative industries earned over £111bn in 2018 and  in 2020 were reported to earn £13m an hour. The covid-19 pandemic has cost the creative industries around £12 billion in GVA (Gross Value Added) as well as over 110,000 jobs, 95,000 of which are predicted to be freelance. Despite this, a report by the Creative Industries predicts that the creative sector will recover faster than the rest of the UK, and may even be a major catalyst in the UK's economic recovery.

The creative industries comparative growth - In 2018 Nesta predicted that by 2030 the creative sector would have generated a further 900,000 jobs for British citizens, and at the time the growth of the creative industries were double that of every other sector. Creative sectors are also resistant to automation and such will continue to benefit the people more than other high and low skill industries.

References: 

Creative Industry Council - The creative industries
Statista - Employment rate in the UK

UK Government - DCMS sector economic growth 2011-2018; Creative industries contributions; Creative industries break the £100bn barrier

The creative industries - employment figures

Creative England - We must invest in creative industry

Nesta - Creative industries driving economic growth

Task 8: Other considerations for businesses

 Finance - Film and TV have a few options for finding funding, more often than not being a large corporation like Disney for high scale productions along with various independent producers and businesses paying for product placement. For smaller scale studio or independent productions however, a typical source of funding would be from an independent production company such as A24 or even self-funded by the people working on the film themselves which could be risky depending on how much money they have available. In the UK specifically, there are organisations who are very open to producing films for new talent, including BFI's 'BFI film fund', BBC Films and Film4. On top of this UK nationals also get access to tax relief and rebate from the UK government with a maximum of 80% being paid back, even 100% of the funding is qualified as tax expenditure.

Insurance - Insurance is always important to have for anyone as it can cover us financially from the majority of grievances depending on the insurance you have. All businesses who work in a public space or work in close quarters with clients need to get public liability insurance to protect them from any claims that the company has harmed someone or their property in some way. Film in particular should always have equipment insurance to cover any shooting equipment or props which may get damaged in an on set accident or stolen. Any crew should also be covered by employer liability by law, which is another consideration that must be taken by film producers. A creative industries wide insurance that is a must is professional indemnity insurance, especially for client work. This insurance protects you from any breach of contract claims, intellectual property claims or from any clients who take action if they feel they have lost money in any way dealing with you.

Working from home - Working from home comes with the added bonus of tax relief as long as its a mandatory requirement for work such as a business decree or covid safety. For up to £6 a week combined from electricity, gas, water and phone call (business related only) bills, a person can claim tax back based on their tax rates. An important part of working from home is balancing work with a healthy life, making sure to take regular breaks, stay fit and healthy and also spend time to socialise.

Business rates - Business rates are charged by the government if a property is used for non-domestic purposes, such as a shop or office and each tax year in February or March the local council will send a business their bill for the year, which varies by location and size of the business. Local councils offer a relief scheme for various businesses which depending on your area is automatic or applied for.

Geography, transport and accessibility - Geography is important for businesses, especially smaller ones, to gain success. A wrong location can leave a business with nothing, so a lot of consideration needs to go into picking where to set up shop. A business needs to plan its location based on what it can afford, how much demand for their business is there, how accessible it is and many more.

References: 

Raindance - Routes to finance your film
BFI - sources of funding for UK filmmakers

The creative industries - Finance

British Film Commission - Film Tax relief

Caunce O'Hara - insurance for the creative industry

Hiscox - Business insurance for TV and Commercial Film Production

UK Government - Working from home; Business rates

No Film School - Filmmakers guide to working from home

Bright knowledge - getting into business with geography

Task 9: Cultural Policy

 The DCMS - The DCMS (department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) is a government department that tries to increase Britain's economic growth through attaining public interest and participation in nationwide art and culture events and heritage sites, with a big lean towards increasing tourism to those areas. They're also in charge of connecting their encompassed sectors to parliament and the wider government to tackle social and political issues head on.

Current DCMS Activities and proposals - The DCMS puts out an annual Outcome Delivery Plan, formally the Single Departmental Plan, which outlines where they are prioritising their work. One of their current proposals is to try and ensure all areas of the UK no matter how rural gets access to 4G and gigabit broadband speeds, while another is the newly instated UK Global Screen Fund which aims to provide £7m to funding, distribution and international promotion mainly for British Independent Film. In current activity, on November 16th 2021 (yesterday at the time of writing) the DCMS held a parliamentary hearing for former Yorkshire Cricket player Azeem Rafiq who along with supporting witnesses has exposed a deep rooted culture of racism in the British cricket scene.

References: 

UK government - DCMS about us; DCMS Outcome Delivery Plan 2021-2022

SportBible -Azeem Rafiq DCMS Hearing

BBC - Azeem Rafiq

Task 7: Regulatory frameworks

 Regulatory body - regulatory bodies are organisations which are either government owned or are public businesses which work alongside the government to create and enforce regulations in their chosen sector. Not all sectors are regulated and are instead left to set their own regulations, however the majority of all major industries are regulated.

Regulatory framework - A regulatory framework is a broad term for a collection of tax information, rules, laws and necessary regulations for a certain industry and can be used by people to reform and enforce regulations in the most optimal way.

OFCOM - OFCOM is a regulating body which by order of parliament is in charger of regulating communication services. The services it covers include broadband and mobile phone services and any other fixed line telecoms, TV and Radio and other forms of broadcasted media and lastly they also keep an eye on the UK postal service, Royal Mail. The framework they have in place is a revision of the EU communications framework, called the Electronic Communications Framework. Pertaining to all communications services the framework pushes competition within the industry while enforcing consumer rights and tightly regulating what gets spread through airwaves and online services.

ASA -  The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) listen to consumer and corporate complaints and make decisions regarding whether an ad contains malicious, offensive and/or irresponsible material to warrant a ban. 98% of complaints are from consumers of which 72% of complaints about misleading ads. They also conduct research to identify what needs to be done to protect the public. The framework they have in place is the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive which enforces strict rules to stop misleading and unfair business practices. The ASA personally tackles any issues before taking it to the law which has prevented the courts from being clogged up with minor cases.

BBFC - The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) makes sure that all commercially available films are given the proper rating to allow people to judge whether a movie or tv show is suitable for someone and what is not. By using age ratings and specific context consideration guides, the BBFC can protect the public from movies that may be harmful to them while giving people the choice to watch a movie knowing what to look out for. The BBFC use a framework of their own creation called the Classification Framework which changes with the public outlook on society. The classification framework operates on a binary system which determines whether content is suitable for children or not, and it is illegal for a child to be sold a ticket to see a film or a physical copy of one that is over their own age. It is not however illegal for a child to watch these movies if they so wish in their own time.

PEGI - PEGI (Pan European Game Information) is a regulatory body that rates and categorises video games based on their content as a guidance for buyers on whether they should buy it or not, and like with BBFC ratings a child cannot be sold a game with a rating higher than their age. The majority of video game developers, publishers and console manufacturers back the PEGI rating system for its clarity and effectiveness. The framework PEGI works off is integrated into its Code of Conduct, which in the UK all games companies must abide by.

Creative Industries Council (CIC) - The CIC is a massive forum made up of creative businesses, organisations and the government. It aims to improve creative sectors through making the usual barriers (finance, skills, regulations, etc) more accessible and to promote inclusion, diversity and opportunity. Their CreaTech program aims to integrate emerging technologies with creative sectors improve both worlds.

References: 

Safeopedia - regulatory bodies

Xiajian Liu - Regulatory frameworks

Law Insider - regulatory framework

OFCOM - What is Ofcom?; EU regulatory framework

ASA - About the ASA; Self Regulation

BBFC - About Us; Framework

PEGI - The PEGI organisation; Code of conduct

ISFE - PEGI Code of conduct

CIC - About Us; CreaTech

UK Government - Creative Industries Coucil

Task 5: Legislation and the creative industries

 Intellectual property - Intellectual properties are creations or inventions which are protected by law to be exclusively used by the creator or owner for commercial use, with the exception of individuals given written permission by the owning body of the original creation.

Copyright - Copyright is the legal right a creator has over any literary or artistic work, and in most countries is obtained just by creating your IP, which can be made more valid legally by patenting or registering a copyright after its conception. Certain things can't be copyrighted as they are protected from copyright or are too commonly used to be able to legally own, such as phrases, logos, and titles.

Trademarks - Trademarks are a registered signifier which are required to be renewed every 10 years. A trademark is a legal signifier that a product, service or creation is exclusively used by the owner or paying third parties. A trademark guarantees legal certainty of ownership and provides the highest level of protection from plagiarism and unauthorised use of the product in question.

talent releases - Talent releases are written consent from a creative artist (actors, models, etc) allowing the release holder to use any footage or recording of the artist related to the project(s) mentioned in writing for monetary (or otherwise) productions. The point of the release is to help settle any legal troubles surrounding ownership and fair use in the event of a dispute from the artist.

Location release - Written consent from a property owner allowing a production use of their property under certain terms issued by the owner in question. The form is handy as it not only gives details of the production to the owner but also covers the owner and filmmaker legally

Filming and performing in public spaces - Filming in public spaces is allowed to be done by anyone as long as its not for criminal purposes. most people can be filmed in public without a release form and no one other than the police have the right to stop you filming or right to own any footage you have produced. Always cooperate with police, and if you encroach on someones private property, stop what you are doing and move back onto public ground. 

Child labour laws - In the UK, children cannot work until the age of 13, and until the age of 16 do not have to be registered so long as they don't work over the personal allowance. There are exceptions for the creative industries however where all children below school leaving age, including under 13's, can work in a professional setting. In the UK children are legally required to have a performance license and a council approved supervisor before they can work on a film, concert, private event, paid public performance or in a paid sports game or modelling shoot.

Public liability insurance - Provides protection against legal action taken by a member (or members) of the public if any of the business' activities cause damage or harm to their property or to them. The insurance helps to cover both legal fees and any compensation in a lost lawsuit.

GDPR - GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a law passed by the EU which applies to any business which provides a service to EU countries irrelevant to their country of origin. The laws included in the GDPR all relate to the protection of any personal data which can lead to heavy fines if misused as per a breach in the laws.

The key principles of the GDPR which must be followed are: All processing must be fair, lawful and transparent to the data subject; All data usage must be explicitly stated to the data subject, and only used for those purposes stated; Only the minimum required amount of data should be processed and collected; All data must be up to date and accurate; Data should only be stored for as long as it needs to be for the intended purpose; processing must be done in the most secure and confidential way possible; The data controller must be accountable for all data and its compliance with all the aforementioned GDPR principles.

Competition Act 1988 and the Enterprise Act 2002 - The Competition Act 1998 and Enterprise Act 2002 are the leading laws around business competition and are in place to restrict market manipulation and monitor signs of cartel behaviour and other forms of collusion. The Competition Act is in place to prevent a business with a dominant foothold within a market from unfairly manipulating that market or using practices that negatively effect its competition and consumers. The Enterprise Act enforces severe punishment on businesses who commit cartel and racketeering offences, including but not limited to price fixing, supply limiting and bid-rigging.

References:

World Intellectual Property Organisation - What is intellectual property?; Copyright; Trademarks
OpenLegal - What is a talent release form and when do I need one?
Peerspace - Everything You Need to Know About Getting a Location Release Form
Institute of Amateur Cinematographers - Filming in public
UK government - Competition act; Enterprise act;Child employment
compare the market - public liability insurance

GDPR.EU - GDPR

Task 4: The brand

Mission statements - A mission statement is a sentence or short paragraph which lays out what the business is trying to achieve, how its achieving that why. The mission statement should incorporate the business' ethics and values with its goals, which is important as it helps investors, employees and the wider community align themselves with the business' agenda through shared values.

Brand positioning - Brand positioning is how the consumer perceives the brand and its identity. A way to adjust your positioning within the market is to change your identity to a selection of key unique themes which you can inject into your brand image through advertising, product design and a website or social media page. These themes should resonate with your own values as well as appealing to the values your primary demographic. There are strong ties to consumer loyalty to the brand based off of the brands positioning, and this is important for public awareness, returning consumers and establishing an image within the community.

Values and drivers - A business' values are the principles on which the business is built upon. These values should be the driving force behind the business' decisions going forward across all functions from hiring staff to making financial decisions, especially taking consideration of the core values of the list which the companies brand will be built around. Business drivers can be a process, resource or a condition which affects a business directly or otherwise. It is the job of the business to identify, analyse and then harness these drivers for optimum output and business growth.

Ways of marketing - Marketing is important for any business type and there are many ways to do it whether you’re an individual or an organisation. A good way to market yourself is to set yourself apart from the competition and focus on a specific demographic rather than appealing to multiple groups of people. In the Information Age there are many ways to market yourself, ranging from the traditional ways of advertising on TV or through posters and billboards to now using social media and mailing lists online to reach out to the whole world if need be.

Business blueprint - The business blueprint is a compilation of documents which provides direction in the success of a business while laying out a life plan to anyone who takes over the business to do it smoothly and effectively. The blueprint is vital for managing staff effectively as well as predicting growth so that the business is fully prepared to deal with increases or decreases in demand and to make sure that none of the staff are being overworked.

The materials of a blueprint can be translated into training manuals for new workers, which is important for the customer as they can be guaranteed the same level of service each time they work with the business. Another blueprint a business needs is a marketing blueprint, which focuses on brand perception from a customers point of view to strategise the businesses customer relations. Use of a marketing blueprint can assist in the prediction of business growth vital to the business' blueprint and model, allowing them to keep on top of work and supply.

references: 

Investopedia - mission statement

The Branding Journal - brand positioning

Queensland government - Business values

Techopedia - Business driver

CMG Consulting - Components of an effective marketing plan

How to Entrepreneur - What is a business blueprint?

The Economic Times - The need to have a marketing blueprint

Task 3: Business Plans and Models

Business Plans - The business plan is a living document pertaining to the company's future in terms of finances, operations, staff and strategies in the years to come and are commonly updated across months or years. This is important in helping a business clarify its plans and set realistic goals for the future while giving the business and it's investors a way of spotting any issues and check the progress its made since the last business plan was made. Business plans are a necessity if the business wants any financial help from the banks as they will only invest if there's a solid plan in place.

Business Models - Business models are all about profit. Essentially their purpose is to clearly lay out the businesses objectives through its product, target market and expenses to generate a surefire way to success, and this model is also vital in attracting investment, interest and talent to a business. Like a business plan, the model is a living document that needs to change with the market trends and the companies successes and failures.

What is a sustainable business model? 

A sustainable business model is a business model that doesn't just focus on fulfilling the needs of the business, but also the effects of the worlds ecosystem on the needs of the business and vice versa, including factors such as the environment, society and also the future generations and how to least affect them. A sustainable business model provides strategies for the most sustainable outcome for the world as a whole instead of only benefitting the business, an adaption of the traditional model in order to adapt to a changing social climate.

references - 

The business plan shop - Business model vs. business plan

UK Government - Write a business plan

Investopedia - business models

THRIVE - Sustainable business models

Task 2: Types of business in the UK

 Sole traders: 

Sole traders are self-employed and all profits and losses made by the business are in total control of the individual's finances. The individual has to keep track of all finances involved in the business and file them in a yearly self assessed tax return, primarily focussing on income tax and national insurance (classes 2 and 4). A business name is purely optional and doesn't need to be registered if you're trading under your own name, however in the case of trading under a business name trademark regulations amongst others still apply.

Limited Companies: 

Private companies limited by shares (LTD) are companies ran privately by a board of majority shareholders or an affiliated NGO instead of members of the public, and any stake in the company is bought and sold privately and the liabilities of shareholders in relation to the company only go as far as their stake in the company. Opposed to this is a public limited company (PLC) , which unlike LTD's can have shares bought by essentially any public entity. PLC's however must have at least £50k in value worth of shares. What defines a limited company in either context is the separation of the company's legal and financial assets from the individuals', and the profits after tax can be used to the discretion of the company. Another form of limited company is a company limited by guarantee, which is nearly identical to a company limited by shares apart from the business being ran by one or more 'guarantors' who put money into the business but don't gain profit from returns, and instead the money is put back into the business for future endeavours. This business model is usually reserved for non-profit organisations such as Charities, Community Interest Companies (CICs) and Community Benefit Societies (BenComs).

Partnerships: 

A Partnership is similar to a sole trader business in that the individual is responsible for the businesses legal and financial assets, however in this case there are multiple individuals involved in the business. One of these partners can be an entity rather than an individual, such as a limited company. One of the partners has to be registered as the nominated party responsible for tax returns and business records.

Social Enterprises: 

Social enterprises are businesses with a huge focus on reinvesting into the social sector to create positive change in various communities and the world at large. These goals could be tackling social problems - such  as 'The Big Issue' which is trying to tackle homelessness as well as societies perception of the homeless - or even environmental issues, among a multitude of other issues. A Social Enterprise can be set up as: a Limited Company; a Charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO); a Co-operative; a CIC or as a sole-trader or business partnership. Whichever one the enterprise sets up as is dependant on whichever option will help with their mission the most and how many assets they have available to them. 

On top of the set-up requirements for a social enterprise, a CIC would require a 'community interest statement' stating the business plan for the enterprise, an 'asset lock' to put limits on profit made by an individual as opposed to re-investing into the business and a written constitution. Once all this has been submitted, the CIC Regulator has to approve the business.

Charities: 

Charities are companies that benefit the community in some way shape or from with a clear charitable purpose. Not all companies that benefit the community are charities, and its this purpose that sets charities apart. To qualify as a registered charity individuals will have to go through the charity commission as opposed to companies house, and are required to provide proof of public benefit as well as a £5,000 annual income. Charities can never use income for private benefit, however some charities can still register as a limited company by guarantee, allowing them more options in terms of liability at the cost of having to register with both companies house and charity commission.

Unincorporated associations: 

Unincorporated associations aren't required to be registered with the government or taxed for as long as they don't start creating profit for the individual. Due to its nature of being independently ran an association's financing will be solely down to the individuals who made the agreement to become associates. The reasons for making an unincorporated association could be to create a volunteer ran club for a local community, such as a sports team.

References - 

The Arts Development Company - How to choose the right business model; What is a social enterprise?

UK Government: Sole trader; limited companies; Shareholders and Guarantors; partnerships; social enterprises; Unincorporated associations; Alternative charity options; set up a charity

ENSFC teaching blog - Types of company in the UK

Task 1: Business analysis tools

 SWOT analysis - SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is a form of analysis that helps either a business, or individual with a purpose, with identifying their factors for success and failure as well as identifying key shifts in the market that will either enrich or threaten your operation. SWOT analysis is useful because it concisely highlights your company's/purpose's major factors and helps show you how to most benefit and learn from them.

My personal SWOT analysis

PESTEL analysis - PESTEL (Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal) is a form of analysis used by new companies or companies entering a new market to check how different factors will affect the overall performance of their company in the macro-environment they are entering. The importance of each factor depends on the individual company and what their values and needs are in, however a few factors blanket most companies in the market.

The PESTEL factors that affect businesses in the UK vary based on the period of time, but include: the ruling political party at the time, at current being the business and personal wealth focused Conservative party, which affects the political, economical and social factors of the macro-environment; A bigger understanding of the environment and things like the Climate Pledge and the Paris Agreement have affected the technological, environmental and economical factors for businesses as they are pushed to commit to a more sustainable business model and alternative technologies to keep their business going. It could also be said in some cases that the changing environmental policies are a legal factor as certain laws are put in place, such as the recent law that all vehicles made after 2011 must be able to use the lower emission E10 petrol instead of E5.

Currently in the UK business is being affected by two major factors, the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. Covid's various lockdowns meant that businesses had to completely rework their formula to fit new guidelines relating to restricted travel, working from home and a huge slowdown of production of company services. While the pandemic has nearly finished up and businesses are back to business as usual, many are still feeling the impact of covid. An example of this is the global shortage of semi-conductors which has impacted a total of 169 industries, most notably the automotive and consumer technology industries.

Brexit has also caused a huge impact universally for businesses within the UK, and has introduced new trade and customs regulations for import/export products and new rules for the domestic stock market. Many new trade agreements have been in effect from the start of 2021 and more are still in discussion which have changed the way UK businesses interact with the international markets.

References -

SWOT analysis: SmartDraw - SWOT Analysis - What is SWOT? Definition, Examples and How to Do a SWOT Analysis

PESTEL analysis: Business To You - PESTEL Analysis EXPLAINED

E10 petrol switch: AutoCar - Government plans E10 petrol roll-out from September 2021

Semi-conductor shortage: Yahoo! Finance - These 169 industries are being hit by the global chip shortage

Brexit - UK trade agreements; UK/EU relations; Non-EU trade agreements