There’s no question that the economy has been lingering, stagnating, call it what you will. At least in Oxfordshire, we haven’t been hit as hard as other places throughout the country BUT we’re not recession proof. Credit availability is limiting the most cast iron of businesses – we see it every day amongst our clients.

“Bank staff on the ground are trying to be as supportive as they can be, which probably isn’t as supportive as those seeking finance would like it to be! We hear a lot of clients and others we meet in business complaining about the situation they are in but the reality is, they have contributed to the situation that they are in! People expect banks to be relaxed but that’s only going to get us back to square one.

“I often ask clients how their finance arrangements are going. Quite often it’s a struggle to get finance deals arranged. But negative energy isn’t good. Getting depressed about where this is all going isn’t going to get the economy going. This year, and almost certainly next year, are going to be tough. Despite bright spots such as the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, which will temporarily lift everybody’s spirits, we are all going to have to work harder than we have ever worked to get anywhere close to where we were. I saw a survey which said we’re not likely to get back to the living standards of 2007 until 2020!

“I can see property prices sinking further, but we’re lucky that we won’t suffer the 30% dips in property values predicted elsewhere in the country.”

Sobering stuff indeed. But do you agree?

We will be posing the following questions to banks and businesses over the next few weeks and will report out findings in Issue 23 of B4.

Questions to Banks
1. Are you operating national policies at local level?
2. Are you a factoring in a potential reduction in property values?
3. When do you see interest rates starting to rise?
4. What is your bank doing to help start ups?

Questions to Business
1. Is Oxford a special case compared to other cities in the country and, if so, why?
2. Is the Oxford economy different to the national economy?
3. A recent survey on 100 directors found 80 of them that said their businesses had increased in the last year. How do you think the economy has moved in the last 12 months?
4. How is your business experiencing difficulties in 2012 compared to 2005?
5. Do you anticipate recruiting in 2012 or reducing your staff numbers?

Want to contribute?
Send your responses (answer one or all questions, it’s up to you) with your full contact details to: editorial@b4-business.com