Business Monitor
Don’t be a Brexit wo R
epeat to yourself ʻthis too will passʼ. Including the
referendum, weʼve been worrying at this bone for three years. If the existing timescale is maintained the magic date of March 29 will soon be upon us and we definitely deserve some light relief. We will find something else to occupy our daily lives, with one proviso – the negotiations after March 29 will be tougher than ever. So said Sir Ivan Rogers, our former EU ambassador. Hooray for us! Britain is a very good place to do business. Forbes magazine recently published its rankings of whereʼs best. The UK came top, just as we did last year. Hands up everyone who heard about that at the time – I certainly didnʼt, two straight wins and I missed them both. Couldnʼt have been because I was totally focused on Brexit, could it?
Hooray for us (mark two)! Our labour market is the envy of the world. (OK there some non-envious pockets but you get the idea.) Above all it is flexible. We have record employment and falling unemployment. Since 2010 three million new jobs have been created and most of them are occupied by standard full time employees, rather than zero hours or the ʻgigʼ economy. Those figures are clearly very good news for the printwear industry.
Good news Wages are outstripping inflation. In truth this glass isnʼt even half full yet because wages will be playing catch up for a goodly time to return us to pre-financial crisis levels but at least itʼs a start. Retailers are supposed to benefit from
| 22 | March 2019 politicking that preceded the
this so if you have retail customers thereʼs a glimmer of good news. The City of London will remain the financial powerhouse of Europe. Yes, itʼs going to lose some business but itʼs small beer and expert commentators say that EC2 will win it back if they want. Please note that in this sector London is simply too big, too important. Worldwide it ranks second, just behind New York. Frankfurt, which has been talked up in some quarters as eating the Cityʼs lunch after Brexit, ranks tenth. There isnʼt another EU financial centre in the top twenty.
The price of oil on world markets is falling. Itʼs down about a third over recent months and thatʼs a lot. Itʼs a good while since Britain was a net oil producer so this is good news for us and all other net consuming countries. Itʼs also good news for an industry like printwear where polyester is an important material. Should the above fall prove to be a long- term trend the positive benefits for both business and consumers can scarcely be over-stated.
Falling prices
There is the further point that nothing puts downward pressure on the price of a commodity such as oil like consistency of supply. America is exploiting the benefits of fracking, hence that price fall to some extent. If the green lobby got a bit more realistic we could have the same benefits in Britain. Not being dependent on Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Kuwait and Libya if and when it revives has to have long-term benefits. The car industry is doing its bit, too,
Don’t be a Brexit wowser
I’m confident that everybody is sick of the B word by now. So instead of moaning about it I propose to look on the bright side. That is not to say that I’m pro-Brexit – I’m not, because I think it will harm the economy, although perhaps not as much as I and many others fear. Paul Clapham, marketing expert, reports.
prompted by greener consumers and governments. Cars are ever more economical and both manufacturers and nations are committing to move to electric vehicles.
As bad as Brexit ʻOh Jeremy Corbyn!ʼ Actually, thatʼs nearer to ʻoh no Jeremy Corbynʼ. Apologies to any supporters of the Labour Party but business owners in general think a Corbyn government would be at least as bad as Brexit. It so happens that the early
enthusiasm among young voters for Mr Corbyn is waning and fast, specifically because he refuses to support a second Brexit referendum. Normally, if a government was dramatically failing to implement its key policy – in this case Brexit – it would be, say, 15 to 20% adrift in the polls. But Theresa Mayʼs government is, remarkably, next to evens with the Labour Party and has been so for several months. This strongly suggests that the British peopleʼs appetite for a red in tooth and claw socialist government is theoretical at best. Donald, trumped. The US President,
isnʼt always the leader of the free world and Mr Trump appears to be a case in point. He has instituted a programme of protectionism against China and guess what? Heʼs standing out there all on his own. There is no enthusiasm to copy his love of tariffs – he called himself Mr Tariff and what a berk that makes him look. Just as you canʼt do free trade single-handed, the same applies to protectionism.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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