A new resource, launched at the Public Sector Communications Academy last week, is designed to help local gov communications people better engage with local business.

56% of the sole contact your local businesses have is with just one part of your council.

56%. Who is it? Well it’s not Communications Teams, it’s not Customer Services and it’s not elected members.

It’s your regulatory colleagues.

There is so much more to this area of work that just sending out a press release when a rogue local trader is caught and fined by Trading Standards.

For example, do you know what the excellent Primary Authority initiative is? No, I wasn’t fully aware either.

In fact when I reflect back on my 11 years leading local government comms teams I realise that I did very little with business customers, almost all of my focus was on residents. And that’s missing a trick.

From talking to other comms colleagues I was not alone.

A question:

Encouraging local growth: who is responsible for 56% of the sole contacts your council has with its business customers?

Answer

Your regulatory teams.

by Darren Caveney

If you didn’t know this, you could be overlooking a great opportunity to engage with your business customers.

And you could be missing an important narrative about how your authority is working for economic growth and local prosperity – a story your council leaders dearly want to tell.

Are you clear how your regulator colleagues can give businesses the confidence to grow by helping them comply with the law?

What are regulators talking to your business customers about?

And what are your business customers saying to them?

For an already stretched communications team you might be wondering what you can do to make the most of this opportunity and why this should be a priority.

Here’s where to start: You are invited to attend an all-new workshop in Coventry on 10 November at the three-day LGcomms/Government Communications Service Academy.