Well it's one of those unusual days in the UK when there is snow on the ground almost everywhere. Coming on a Friday most people will feel like it's just going to be a long week-end, albeit a colder one. Just think for a moment though about those small businesses, retailers, farmers and others who are going to be hit hard by this. Not being able to trade or in the case of farmers loosing lambs because it's so cold (yes, in the south of the country lambs are starting to be born already) will have an impact down the line. Three or four days of less footfall in shopping centres and on the high streets of Britain will show up in the quarterly retail figures out in April. Just listen out for the reasons for a dip in sales including 'that cold snap in January that kept the shoppers away'.
Surely the country doesn't really need to rely on retail therapy and shopping for essentials to drive its economic growth? Retail still gets seen as an indicator of economic prosperity for some reason. Wouldn't it make far more sense if we focussed in the news on manufacturing output and the export of high value goods. There are good stories out there of manufacturers exporting. While much of the recent news about car sales has been gloomy the top end of the market is extremely buoyant. Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) while no longer British owned all produce much of their output for overseas customers. You can bet the workforces at these plants won't let a little bit of snow stop them getting into work - they have lots to be getting on with and exporting excellent British goods around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment