“It’s not great, is it?”
Date published:
Rachel Anderson’s latest column for the Journal.
It’s not great, is it? I know there are so many things not great now that even two sentences into this column you still don’t have much idea what bit of “not great” I’m talking about. Is it the parties, the lacking legislative programme, levelling you can only see with the Hubble telescope, war, or its fellow equestrians famine and pestilence (not now Monkeypox)!?
Or is it the “not great” impacting on much of the population the seemingly unstoppable rise in the cost of living? This being a business column, I need to talk about how “not great” looks for businesses. Now I know many of you will not take much time out of daily living to spare a thought for FTSE 100 company Directors and the hardships they face, but I am going to flag up that for small company owners responsible for the livelihoods of their workforce and their families, people who they know well and are colleagues and often friends, a time like this can be lonely and incredibly stressful.
As a Chamber we track the economy and our Members are pretty honest with us about what is happening behind the scenes. We are seeing rising bills (no energy price cap for businesses), transport costs, raw material costs and wages creeping up. All of this on the back of a weakened cashflow following the pandemic. Until this quarter, businesses were telling us that customers were being tolerant of price increases, but that picture is starting to change. Small companies must balance all of this and make the payroll at the end of the month.
Then there’s the human side of all this. Experience of the last recession tells us that when the economy tightens workers feel the pressure and the consequences of that often play out on the shop floor. Employers were the first line of response in dealing with mental health issues, financial problems, disputes between employees over money and even hunger. Whilst employers learned from the last downturn and run kinder workplaces where employees can access support or be signposted, but many still try to cope with issues alone.
In modern times it takes a very special skillset to run a company and I take my hat off to those who are in the thick of it but make a plea – ask for help, don’t try to cope with “not great” on your own.