The demise of the high street has been a well documented. However, it seems there has been an interesting development in terms of its future.

Many customers complain about the fact that if you go to any high street in the UK, the range of shops available will be almost identical. However, not anymore if the findings from a recent survey, from the ONS is to be believed.

According to the report, independent retailers are popping up in high streets all across the UK, in spaces previously occupied by more traditional high street chains. The findings of the report revealed that the number of independently run businesses increased by almost six per cent in 2009.

Richard Kitchen, founder of the ‘Forum of Independent Companies’, comments: “The high street has been a major casualty of the economic downturn. However, its decline has provided more room for the independent retailer to establish their business with minimum expenditure. This is extremely encouraging for those considering company formation.”

John Joyce, managing director of commercial leasing agents ‘JJ Lettings’, comments: “Small businesses have always been the backbone of our economy. The consumer is sick of going shopping only to be facing with a homogenous high street – why bother to go out shopping when it is boring and you can get the same stuff online. We have noticed a sharp increase in the number of independent and family run businesses taking out a lease on commercial property and – in my opinion – it can only mean good things for the UK’s economy.”

When the economic downturn first struck and making redundancies became a reality for many small businesses and company formation owners, protocol and procedure went out the window, claims a recent report by the human resource website ‘Staff Seekers’. Now it appears that some corporations may face employees seeking redress and – in some cases – litigation.

Almost a third of all people who have been made redundant, feel that that the process was handled incorrectly, say the CIPD. In some of the cases employees reported being told that they should leave the same day, while others reported that their redundancy settlements were insufficient.

Claire Thomas, who was made redundant six months ago, comments on her experience; “ Most employees probably fail to understand the huge implications being made redundant has on that employee; you go through feeling humiliated and then it begins having an impact on your personal confidence, While I accept that being made redundant was a consequence of the recession for many people including business owners of recent company formation owner, I don’t think there is enough support available for those people who have been made redundant to get them back into the work place.”

Matthew Harrison, founder and CEO of Staff Seekers, comments: ‘Historically, redundancies were kept very private within an organization and in many cases the employee was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement as part of their settlement. However, now as the ‘credit-crunch’ and redundancy occupied the front pages of most newspapers each day over the past year, redundancy has become news. Subsequently employers who have handled the process incorrectly will be identified and in some cases punished.”

While the small business sector may have lost faith in politics, they are confident about the future of the economy, according to a recent report, conducted by Santander.

The report found that over seventy per cent of small business owners think that their company will grow in 2010. While over ninety per cent comment that they plan to recruit at least one new staff member over the next three months.
Findings of the report also revealed that most small business owners have made a substantial personal financial commitment throughout the recession instead of relying on banks.

Thomas Cox, director of finance and enterprise at Santander, comments: ‘The findings of this report showed that things are definitely getting better for the SME sector. It also indicated that many small company owners have looked for different ways of improving their business. Indeed from diversifying their product or services to changing their marketing platforms, it seems that innovation is key to surviving any economic downturn.”

According to a recent report, conducted by business insurance consultants ‘Your Business’, one of the biggest challenges the small businesses have faced during the recession, is late payment and bad debt.

The survey found that throughout the last two years almost fifty per cent of the SME sector have incurred some element of bad debt. While over forty per cent say that they are owed over eight thousand pounds or more as a consequence of business insolvencies.

Matthew Packham, managing director of ‘Your Business’ comments; “The findings of this repot, while concerning, are not surprising. Throughout the recession, bad debt and late payment have been a reality for most companies and, in some cases, have resulted in the demise of businesses.”

“It is vital that small businesses protect themselves from bad debt and develop a strategy of what to do if bad debt occurs.”
The report found that companies in the south of England were worst effected by late payment and bad debt.

While the retail sector is currently experiencing a period of regeneration, according to a recent report, conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses, the business to business and business service sector have seen a sharp decline in profit, during the first quarter of 2010.

According to the survey, management consultancy firms and business analysts are among the worse affected. However, profits across the entire sector have fallen by almost fifty five per cent, during the last quarter.
Yet, on a more positive note, of all the five hundred small business owners asked, over fifty per cent said they felt 2010 will be a more profitable year than 2009.

Chris Hatterly, advisor to the FSB comments; “While profits have fallen, the business service sector is confident that things will improve. As the country’s economy continues to improve enterprise will begin to grow again and that can only be positive for all concerned.”

One of the major casualties of the recession was consumer confidence. Consumers no longer wanted to spend money on non-essential goods or high commitment purchases such as furniture, and the retail sector suffered massively as a result. However, according to a recent report from the British Chambers of Commerce, consumer confidence has increased massively in the first quarter of 2010.

According to the report this is the direct result of the government’s announcement that the recession is over.
Economist Matthew Davidson comments; “While consumer confidence continued to fall during the last quarter of 2009 and as a result, many retailers experienced disappointing Christmas sales. These figures do indicate that consumer confidence it up and people are starting to buy again.”

“ While I absolutely agree with the contention that consumer confidence has increased as a result of the recession being over, I also think that many retailer have been forced to look and change the way in which they do business and that subsequently this has also had a positive impact on their sales. “

Of the 2, 000 small businesses questioned over 65% said that they have experienced an increase in sales revenue over the first quarter of 2010.

While many high street retailers planned for a surge in sales around Christmas and a further increase in revenue during the January sales, a recent report conducted by the BRC showed that retail revenue fell by 0.7% in January – the worst in fifteen years.
According to the report, this was a consequence of the horrendous weather conditions that hit the UK in January, compounded by the increased of the VAT rate back to 17.5%.

However, it wasn’t bad news for the entire retail sector. Indeed 2010 started with a bang for most supermarkets as people tried to stock up for essential items and it was an entirely different story for online retailers, who saw their sales soar in January.

Matthew Alexander, economic advisor to the BRC, comments: ‘ While retail figures in December weren’t as bad as many retailers fear, January figures seem to indicate that consumer confidence is still low despite the government announcing that the UK is out of the recession. However, the snow and VAT rise undoubtedly had an impact on consumer behaviour and we think that February will be much more illuminating.

When the government announced, somewhat tentatively, that the UK was finally out of recession, the public breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, many economists warn that the economy is still far from stable.
Indeed, according to company liquidation experts, the number of small businesses going into administration is still set to rise throughout 2010, with many business analysts claiming that we can only expect to see any real improvement towards the middle of 2011.

Chief economic advisor to the FSA, John Hilton, comments: “While the country is indeed out of recession according to official GDP figures, it will still take some time for enterprise in the UK to fully recover. We have gone through what has been one of the most economically unstable periods history has ever recorded, so to expect everything to simply go back to pre-recession stability is un-realistic.”

“Though recent figures do indicate growth, this growth is marginal and unfortunately, for many companies, their future still looks uncertain.”

Last week the Office for National Statistics revealed that throughout September and December, unemployment figures in the UK reduced by 7,000. However, a recent report by the CIPD warns that these figures, while positive, may well mask a broader issue.

Many economists predicted that unemployment in the UK would reach an all time high during the recession. However, while the number of people seeking employment is undoubtedly high, as the recent figures confirm, they are much lower than originally anticipated. However, the impact of the recession on the workforce should not be underestimated, as David Locke, small business advisor to the CIPD concludes:

“The fact that unemployment has decreased is definitely a positive step in the right direction. However, the government needs to realize that employment is not the only casualty of the recession. Indeed the long term impact of widespread redundancy and pay freezes on the UK’s workforce is still yet to be fully realized.”

“The government should also endeavor to find out what happened to the people who were made redundant but are no longer unemployed. Did these people become self-employed as the rise in company formation figures suggest? Or, did they take a significant pay cut to ensure they remained employed? It is important to understand the consequences of redundancy if unemployment figures are to continue to decrease and the productivity of the UK’s workforce is to be maintained.”

You cannot fail to have noticed the drop in temperature over the past couple of days. However, if the findings of a recent report are to be believed, it is not only the weather that is freezing.
According to a report conducted by the Institute of Management and Professional Development, since the recession began, just 50% of all employees in the UK have received a salary increase. Yet, of all of those asked, over 60% admit to working longer hours in an attempt to keep their jobs.

However, the report also found that those people who received a pay increase were satisfied with the amount.

James Havard, small business advisor to the IMPD comments; “Employers need to appreciate the amount of strain their team has been under in the last year; not only have they had to deal with the threat of redundancy they are also the subject of outside economic pressures as well. While many employees have accepted pay freezes as an unfortunate consequence of the recession, business owners must appreciate their cooperation and ensure that once the recession is over, payment structures return to normal.”