It's official – we are in a recession. At the end of January the Government's Office for National Statistics published figures showing that the UK economy had shrunk in two consecutive quarters, meeting the technical definition of recession used by economists.

Grim news, but, let's be honest, old news. Anyone who keeps even a casual eye on the media has known for some months now that we live in challenging times.

Last year brought the banking crisis, plummeting house prices and the sudden slowdown in the property development market.

At first the impact of those national – and, in the case of the banking crisis, global – problems was limited.

But it has now spread to the real economy and here in the South West, as in the rest of the country, some businesses are being hit hard.

Virtually everyone is affected to some extent, from sole traders through to multinationals; from retail chains through to car manufacturers.

To point out just a few examples, the collapse of Woolworths left hundreds of people in our area without jobs; the four-month production halt at Honda's car factory in Swindon is having knock-on effects for it suppliers throughout the region; there is ongoing uncertainty about how the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS will affect the thousands of people which the banks and their subsidiaries such as Cheltenham & Gloucester employ in the West.

The bad news is that things will get worse before they get better. Pundits predict that the recession will continue throughout 2009.

There will be more pain to come: people will lose their jobs; businesses will go under; our region will suffer.

But there are steps which we can take to reduce the damage now and to prepare for the recovery when it does come.

At the South West RDA we are playing a key role in co-ordinating and managing a diverse range of support for businesses in the region.

We have set out a package of practical help for businesses in our First Steps: Action for Recovery document which is available on our website at www.southwestrda.org.uk.

It includes: improved access to finance; an expanded range of advice and support services for SMEs to be provided through Business Link, which we fund and manage; extra help for manufacturing firms provided through our South West Manufacturing Advisory Service; and more support for agricultural businesses through our Rural Enterprise Gateway scheme.

To square up to the recession and coming out the other end fighting fit we need to make sure businesses can borrow money, people have access to training, infrastructure for future housing and commercial development is put in place, and that the South West gets its fair share of Government funding and support.

We are working with the Government, local authorities, Jobcentre Plus, Learning and Skills Council and partner organisations such as Business Link on practical measures to make this happen.

We will come out of the recession, and when we do, we need to make sure the South West is ready to do business.