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In the last few weeks phone has gone quiet, yep paid the bill, B and Q shutting 60 sheds,Homebase the same,3 bus companies ceased trading locally,local joinery company gone out of trading,quite a few construction companies either gone bust or reporting poor profits,very quiet on the roads, shops seemingly empty of customers, discounts on bikes and bits.
Is it the lull before the storm of an election win for ....................
Well my employers have just embarked on a massive promotions and recruitment spree so I'm hoping they know something I don't!
You don't need a recession for firms to go bust.
B&Q consolidating could be seen as a good sign. People no longer prepared to 'do it themselves' but get a tradesman in instead as they have more money to spend?
another £7M cut in budget from central gov, so its continuing full steam ahead. 😐
Touching wood, last year was our best ever and so far this year is topping that.
Rent has gone up so that will swallow any extra profit.
I think the parente company of B&Q are opening screwfix branches in There place
We're having huge budget cuts at work. Can't go into details but the next parliament is going to be tough time to work for the public sector.
Depends what industry your in I guess and where you are.
I think the parente company of B&Q are opening screwfix branches in There place
Aaah - didn't know Screwfix were owned by the same company. Funnily enough a Screwfix has just opened down the road from B&Q in Alfreton.
Nope, I'm in the same job earning much less.
Can't go into details but the next parliament is going to be tough time to work for the public sector.
A bit like the last forever
Our Principal told us that we're going to look back on this year as The Good Old Days in a few years time :/
We don't do any business in the UK, mainly ME, Africa and US, so not that affected by UK economics. Locally Cambridge is still firing on all cylinders, so not really any signs of recession here.
Education is ****ed imo.
No
Not really - nearly killed my little business (along with an unfortunate landlord) and I am still working to pay off debts created by that episode so the effects of the recession (having no spare cash) will last at least another four years.
Turnover and profits up in work and we're expanding our workforce, or at least able to offer full-time contracts for our part-time guys who want them.
Personally I was given a 5k pay rise today and been offered 2 other jobs since Xmas without asking, both with better than the crash salaries - but the 'packages' aren't as good, less placed offering pensions and stuff like that - one place said people didn't care as much about 'perks' these days, they're after cash because people aren't confident of a "job for life".
There will always be big retailers like B&Q expanding and contracting - DIY places are notoriously poorly run, I don't know why, but they always have been - plus they've got the likes of IKEA muscling into thier Kitchen and Bathroom sales and the supermarkets into the smaller stuff like paint and brushes.
As for the Public Sector, were under a Tory government, boom or bust public services will always contract under the Tories and expand under Labour - it's almost a zen-like balance - saying that we grabbed a 70k public sector job last week and expecting another next month. It's for Drugs and Alcohol services though, our Arts and Media public sector clients ain't got pot to piss in nor window to throw it out.
Education is **** imo.
It does seem to have avoided it so far, but over next few years it is going to get it in the neck. 😕
£22Bn in efficiency savings, and employed on a zero hour contract so nope it's still cracking on at a fair old clip.
Was there a recession?
Or did the media flood us with negative stories that made us think there was a recession.
The rich got richer....the super rich that control the media as part of thier huge corporations With fingers in all the pies.
Nope
More responsibilty and falling pay since 2008.
Some self inflicted hardship as I left full time post due to combination of cuts and terrible management. Still worth it though. Tax bill of £26! Yay. look at me contributing.
Have considered heading for the corporate events world in the middle east even though the content would bore me.
Education on its knees here. £11m needs saved over three years. Given buildings are either new or well past it, infrastructure spend will be limited. Staffing being cut, I may well be in Morrison's stacking shelves come august. We're nearly out of stationery for the year. Pensions are much reduced compared to before, still better than many, contributions climbing. Wages stagnent.
So no long way from over for me or my police Scotland OH.
I feel about 70 pence a week better off compared to last year. Apparently this is cause for celebration according to the chancellor earlier today. 😕
[edit] of course as a public servants with a gold plated pensions, our household is actually about £200 a month worse off in real terms since the last general election. And only 2 years closer to retirement than we were 5 years ago, of course.
That's before i get on to the huge disparity between the idea that the country is spending more in helath and the actual money spent on frontline delivery of care, as well as the countless tragic stories of hardship amongst the most vulnerable and least likely to vote members of society that i encounter in my practice.
So no, not really.
My actual job is relatively recession proof, we've lost some funding but not terribly so and bad career prospects tend to push people into higher education anyway. Sub-inflation wage "rises" and changes in benefits but nothing really lifechanging for me. But it's affecting our graduates and applicants in about a hundred different ways, none of them good, I really feel for them. Far from over.
I'm one of those who have lost their jobs in oil & gas recently, not sure if the problems that industry is facing count as part of a recession, but the onshore development area I used to work in seems to be quiet still too, with companies scrabbling for work and making cuts still. Friends in public sector facing terrible budget cuts too. All seems a bit odd to me.
Sorry but not really stopped for a year and the New Years resolution of having more time off has gone out the window, still some tight budgets but most of my clients are growing or looking to promote new products.
I did know somebody who was made redundant last week in a small agency but that could be because they have a small client pool.
Having seen a few downturns/crashes If there is a recession looming I'm usually the first to get hit and then the first to get busy when it ends.
Well I'm worse off than I was 4 years ago so no
Working in public sector with below inflation wage increases, plus paying extra into pension to get less means definitely not feeling better off personally. The cuts to higher education are starting to show now, cracks were papered over, but i wouldn't be surprised if more universities lay off more workers than they have been doing (without much attention) over the next year or so.
Whatever your personal circumstances and how you feel the recession is definitely over.
It's not about whether individuals are in a good place or not.
That's why we still had a recession even when Britain's top company bosses saw their pay rocket.
[url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/what-recession-top-bosses-pay-rockets-8057359.html ]Executive pay rises by 8.5% to average of £3m – as everyone else's goes down[/url]
[i][b]"The pay of Britain's top company bosses has soared still higher, rising by more than five times that of ordinary workers, who have seen a decline in wages in real terms".[/b][/i]
Some way yet so beware of [s]snake oil salesman[/s] politicians offering false hope.
Only scant progress in dealing with issue that caused slowdown
Had a tough few years, but much more optimistic about the business than I've been for quite a while. Getting out of the old shop with the a***hole landlord and saving £5k per year on rent didn't hurt either.
Nope. Recession is not over yet for me since I started work ... 🙄
Regardless of the economy situation if you have ZMs in charged of your life/work where you work, recession can never be over. For example, a slight dip in the economy would see them ring fencing their unicorns no end. They will then put you up as the disposable. 😡
For example, a slight dip in the economy would see them ring fencing their unicorns no end. They will then put you up as the disposable.
Good point - not a lot of people will have thought of that.
Same area as Project/Sad Bloke
Never been busier and order books full for the next 18 months which has never been known! Exports are up 75% for us and we are recruiting big time.
Despite being American owned we have had a pay rise every year above inflation so I feel pretty lucky, most of my suppliers are struggling to meet demand as those still left trading are swamped or short staffed!
or my police Scotland OH.
It's something of a paradox that I can't for the life of me imagine how this organisation could be made any worse, while at the same time having no doubt whatsoever that it will be.
Arms length public sector here, checked my wageslip on the system out of curiosity. Earnin £900 pa more than I was 5 years ago. It definitely feels harder now.
If the recession is over, how come we're still at rock-bottom interest rates and facing falling prices after years of billions of £ being thrown into the economy by QE? Hardly the sign of a strong economy!
This comment to a story in The Economist sums it up for me: even the party supposed to be competent on the economy is clearly struggling to get us out of the mess and I can't see whatever muddy mess of a coalition/minority government that we end up with, will be stopping playing party politics long enough to actually form a coherent plan and deliver any better...
I suspect the damage to the wealthy Western countries has gone much deeper than we yet know and our time as the 'winners' in the global economy has ended and we're seeing a massive equalisation of wealth across the world.
I think it'll become clearer over the next 20 years or so that we reached our peak standard of living and economic superiority in the noughties (and even that was based on massive amounts of consumer debt). In terms of sharing global wealth this is surely a good thing but I don't think we're going to enjoy the experience, having grown up with more than we'll have in the future.
When house prices (an illusion of wealth) correct, the amount of debt we're carrying will become clearer - which will be rather uncomfortable for many.
"Why are the Conservatives’ economic record and leadership strengths not yet translating into a lead?"1. Because their "economic record", such as it is, is based on pumping newly-printed money into banks - the same banks that caused the credit crunch. This has inflated property and stock prices but has by-passed the ordinary voter entirely. Tory's USP is supposed to be economic competence. Fail.
2. The Conservatives are traditionally the party of national security. The Tories plan to cut defense spending to 1.8% of GDP, below the 2% NATO says is necessary to defend Europe from Russian neo-imperialism. Fail.
3. The Tories make clucking noises over Putin's aggression in Ukraine (a country to which NATO gave security guarantees) but welcomes oligarchs and their money to the City. The document photographed on it's way into No.10 to the effect that sanctioning Putin would be bad for business and should be avoided gives the lie to Cameron's bluster and makes him appear a mere creature of the City. Fail.
4. Giving a short-term boost at the cost of long-term damage to the balance of payments by selling the family silver (Eurotunnel, Hinkley Point, HS2, NHS) to foreigners - in some cases foreigners who have no love of Britain (China) - is a wrong thing. Fail.
For me it is the same shite all over again but in different location, time and space ... making me completely full of shite.
Therefore, whatever govt is in power they are usually full of shite ...
🙄
thegreatape - Member
or my police Scotland OH.
It's something of a paradox that I can't for the life of me imagine how this organisation could be made any worse, while at the same time having no doubt whatsoever that it will be.
How about Scottish fire and rescue an a par if not worse than police Scotland
I don't doubt it, it's pretty much happened in parallel hasn't it.
In terms of pounds in my pocket I've never had it so good! But that's only half the story.
In reality the company is cutting everything back to the bare bones, then shaving the bones. The second round of redundancies in 12 months is currently in it's final phase and there's talk of a third wave in August. Everyone's holidays over the summer have been cancelled (we're all appealing), we're all working ridiculous amounts of hours (half my take-home pay is overtime), we're losing contracts continuously and the normal working day has gone from 9 to 11-12 hours (pretty much maximum driving hours over a week). The contracts we do have are all trying to negotiate a lower price for the same, or more, work. The maintenance of company vehicles and buildings is practically 0 and people that aren't being sacked are leaving in droves. I've got very little free time, lucky to get out on the bike once a week where I used to be out 2-3 times quite easily (no kids or wife) and my friends hardly see me. When they do they always comment on how I'm tired and not my normal self.
During the actual recession it was all fine, no loss of work and it was business as usual. The cumulative effects mean we're paying for it now.
does seem to have avoided it so far, but over next few years it is going to get it in the neck.
Funding has remained the same so a real terms cut, but its the increase in pupils thats the problem. Big cut in funding per pupil. In 3-5 when the increase really kicks in to swcondary schools we wont have the room for them unless something is done now.
O&G here its only just beginning for us.
Just back from the north sea and the mood off shore is shite, some companys doing mandatory 2 week shut downs and forcing employees to submit holidays for it .
Others going equal time and making whole crews redundant,
Other service hands having offshore bonus rates slashed and in some circumstances removed all together.
Mean while our companies are recording record cash surplus levels.... Media playing right into their paws.
How ever many offshore guys have no choice but to bend over and take it as the big bimmer/audi infront of the 400k house doesnt pay for its self.
No. The company I work for has just sold itself to another bunch of venture capatalists.
Even more cuts to follow. 🙁
Yes.
Earning more, working less.
No debts, house paid off, no kids to pay for.