Here's to a prosperous 2011
31 Dec 08
If businesses and consumers had their way, we’d just skip the next two years. Unfortunately we don’t have that option.
Last Sunday I did something I had not done for ages and will never do again – I popped into my local branch of Woolworth’s and bought something. It was the last day of trading for a chain that has been part of the British way of life for generations.
Woolworth’s has been joined over the past week by other retailers going into administration, including USC and Adams. It underlines what we all knew already: 2009 is going to be a tough year.
A CA of my acquaintance, who admits to being a “glass half empty” man, told me over Christmas that in his view we have not seen the worst of it. It seems his optimism is shared by a majority in this country. A poll carried out by Harris for the Financial Times indicates that most of us believe the recession will go on well into 2010 at least, despite the Chancellor’s estimate that we will see the turnaround some time in 2009.
I’m not convinced that simply trying to restart a boom in consumer spending is necessarily the best approach, but neither is despondency. Those who manage to preserve their jobs and their level of income will find their money goes further, and those with capital to invest will be able to pick up assets that, in the long run, will prove to be a bargain.
2009 won’t be easy, but one upside for the accountancy profession is that these difficult conditions will highlight the values that the CA should exemplify: hard-headedness, wisdom, determination and integrity. These are important enough in the good times, but now they are more crucial than ever.
I wish all CA Magazine readers a Happy New Year and all the best for 2009.