The state of the UK’s roads is crippling small businesses in the North-east. The cost of Britain’s poor transport infrastructure to the nation’s small business community has risen 40pc to nearly £2bn in the past year, according to new research from Bibby Financial Services. Half of owners and managers in the North-east now estimate they are losing up to £10,000 a year because Britain’s roads and railways are simply not good enough – a massive 50pc increase on last year. Congestion on road networks is ranked as being the biggest challenge for business owners and managers in the North-east, with nearly a quarter (24pc) of people having missed an important business meeting as a result of traffic congestion. Undertaken by Continental Research on behalf of Bibby Financial Services, the survey, adds strength to the Gazette’s Go For Jobs campaign, run in conjunction with its sister paper The Journal and the North East Chamber of Commerce. The research showed that other major impacts of Britain’s poor transport infrastructure included losing a big order (11pc) and two in ten businesses have lost key members of staff directly because of increased transport costs or a lack of public transport.
Article here. Same story across the pond:
Today commuters, customers and businesses shape more and more of their activities around what used to be considered just an everyday irritant. Californians know congestion is awful, but it may be even worse than we realized.
My oped here. Related: Congested Businesses