The Government didnt cause the current problems but as they are in the driving seat they need to do something about it...

As yet more statistics hit the street proclaiming further economic gloom and doom some of us, me included, are inclined to scratch around for straws of comfort rather than to simply accept the implications of the evidence that some would say is staring us in the face. Burying our heads in the sand? Maybe, but on the other hand what’s to be gained from burying our heads in our hands? In any case, is relying upon these traditional indicators of financial health helpful?


In recent years, largely as a result of incredible technological changes, the world has moved on at a pace that few would have thought possible ten years ago. It was only 15 years or so ago that email was regarded with suspicion, that websites were rare in the extreme and that social media was not even a twinkle in some ‘techies’ eye. As the use of technology has become more widespread customer practice and demand has changed dramatically.

Was it only a few years ago that people maintained that internet sales wouldn’t take off claiming that before purchasing buyers would need to be able to touch and feel whatever it was they were buying. Nowadays we can reflect, not only upon how wrong they were, but also upon the wider impact of the online revolution. One could write volumes on the subject; demands for greater convenience, lower prices, that most white goods are now regarded as being disposable to name only a few of the outcomes.

Simultaneously attitudes have changed in other areas. Remember the heady days when our houses earned more than we did and, for those who had any, cash deposited in the bank grew in value with little or no effort. Those were the days when, if servicing debt became difficult, we just borrowed more; happy days, when water was cheaper than milk and diesel was cheaper than petrol. Weren’t those the days too when the experts decided that it would be more cost effective to send manufacturing processes to parts of the world where they could be carried out more cheaply while we would thrive on ‘high value’ processes alone.. What crazy times they were.

My point? Well we can bemoan rises in public borrowing, widening of the balance of payments, reduced standards in education, the wrong type of leaves on the line, and any other thing that takes your fancy, but the fact is that, unless somebody is prepared to do something as a result, such indicators are of little more than academic interest. In any case, given the way the world has changed in recent years, I would question whether the traditional indicators are as pertinent as they were in the past. The one thing I am sure of is that the time for simply sitting with our heads in our hands has long passed we need action, energy and direction leading to growth in the economy. This government didn’t cause the current problems but as they are in the driving seat they need to get on and do something about it.

We have applauded the first two ‘Osborne’ Budgets but on this occasion our verdict is ‘must do better’

As yet another Budget comes and goes I am keenly aware that the rhetoric surrounding it has changed little over the years. Those on the same political side as the Chancellor pick out the bits they like and herald the whole thing as though he had produced the elixir of life, those from the opposition pick out the bits they don’t like and accuse him of being something akin to the devil incarnate. Neither approach does them any credit nor does it do us mere mortals any particular service.


In my view this year’s budget was not too different from the majority I have listened to over the last twenty or thirty years, good in parts not so good in others, from my perspective it neither got the blood racing nor did it make it boil. Of course the reduction in Corporation tax is welcome as is the support for companies engaging in research and development but the failure to retract plans to increase fuel duty and business rates was disappointing. Despite claims to the contrary this was not a budget to inspire growth, it was neutral at best.

Whilst some Hertfordshire businesses are starting to see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ times remain tough. These, previously announced increases will only hinder hard pressed business people in their efforts to grow profits and in so doing to provide the platform that will create much needed jobs. Arguably this government has done much to stabilise the economy following years of profligacy by its predecessor but much more needs to be done.

Whilst applauding the Chancellor for ‘steadying the ship’ one is, nonetheless, entitled to ask “what next”. Once stability has been achieved we have to plan for growth. As any experienced business person will tell you standing still is rarely an option. There is much to be done and I certainly recognise that the challenges are complex but, loading additional cost burden on thousands of small businesses is not the answer. Certainly the reduction in Corporation Tax will help some but it won’t make up for the additional property costs (including rent) or the burgeoning increases in fuel costs. Added to the additional National Insurance costs landed on business during the last throes of the previous government it requires, if anything, genuine reductions in the cost of doing business.

The British Chambers of Commerce recently launched its ‘Business is good for Britain’ campaign it might have used the word ‘essential’. Whichever way one cuts it when it comes to wealth and job creation business is ‘the only game in town’. Hertfordshire businesses in particular have demonstrated extremely high levels of resilience in the face of rising costs and increased global competition. Given a supportive environment Hertfordshire businesses will begin to take up the slack in the jobs market but they cannot do so if they are continually put under pressure by the effects of indirect taxation. We have applauded the first two ‘Osborne’ Budgets but on this occasion our verdict is ‘must do better’.

Businesses Need Support Too!

As the Government calls for business to lead the country out of the economic difficulties we have faced over the past two or three years I am inclined to ask the question ‘can it do it on its own’? Whilst I am absolutely positive that business will give it its best shot I am becoming increasingly concerned that collectively British society needs to do more to help. I know it’s tough out there and, that for perfectly understandable reasons people are concerned about the future, but the truth is we all need to knuckle down and do our bit.

Over the years I have visited parts of the world where the local population would give their eye teeth to be able to enjoy some of the advantages we have. Anyone who has walked the back streets of a Chinese city or parts of Eastern Europe would be staggered at how people eke out a living without complaint and certainly without expectation that someone else will bail them out. Here our default position seems to be that someone else should find a solution for us.

Most business people, particularly those running small businesses, understand that if they are to succeed they will need to do so through their own drive and determination. I am yet to meet a successful business person that has factored in support from government as being key to their growth, nor have I met one that has folded at the first sign of adversity. The fact is that successful people get on with it and make things happen but they need support and encouragement the same as everyone else.

Several times in recent weeks I have heard people snipe at businesses. Whether it be the man in the street, a journalist or Trade Union leader, ‘they are only in it to make money’ seems to be a frequent refrain. It would be easy to respond that any business that does not make money will soon go out of existence and, perhaps more appositely, will not be able to create the jobs we all need to exist. More fundamentally, though, the remark totally misses the point that making money is a by-product and rarely the initial objective. It also fails to recognise that it is the business people who have backed their own judgment and taken the risk.

Of course the people who have supported them should be able to share in their success but at the end of the day it is people with entrepreneurial drive and eye for innovation and hard work who will make the difference. We need to get behind them.

Oh dear, yet more employment legislation! The Government that claims it wants to help business strikes again!

Let me begin by saying that in 2008 any business that is able to be and doesn’t have a flexible approach to its staff is missing a trick. Good employers, generally, have a more effective workforce and reduce costs by retaining them for longer. If being flexible helps an employee, and doesn’t have a deleterious impact on the business, surely it makes sense to be so. Good employers have long since recognised the benefits of being flexible and therefore there is no need to introduce legislation to make them be so. It leads to better performance and gives them edge over those who are not.

The problem with legislation is that it has a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses and takes away the ability to apply commonsense. It must also be said that it does not discriminate between good and bad employers. Good employers will follow it diligently but nevertheless occasionally end up facing the unfairness of Industrial Tribunals and, in any case, incur the additional costs of implementation. Frankly, bad employers will ignore it.

It seems to me that this government has got so wound up with political correctness and an apparent wish to interfere in all aspects of our day to day life it has failed to understand that reasonable people can rub along perfectly well without their constant intervention. Legislation may keep some people on the rails but at the end of the day most of us will be good (most of the time) and some people will be bad. We do not require the State to constantly tell us what is right and wrong and how to behave.

Since it came to power in 1997 this Government has stated that it wants to support business – at best it has been inconsistent. I am not sure that this legislation would be welcome at anytime but at a time when business people across the country are trying everything they know to sustain a future for their businesses the announcement of yet more legislation should be condemned. It really does appear that the only answer this government has to life’s challenges is yet more legislation.

To paraphrase Albert Einstein “Continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different outcome is a sign of madness”.