As the twinkle of LEDs light up high streets across the land and the feeling of Christmas permeates the air, it is sad that the UK remains in an economic snow storm. However, this may be offset if Chancellor George Osbornes new raft of plans in the budget to stimulate business and make borrowing easier come to pass.

Indeed, business analysis consultancy Equifax latest report saw retail insolvencies increase by 41.8 percent in the third quarter compared to last year.

This is compounded by figures from the Institute of Credit Management which show businesses are far more wary of the risk of bad debt, with 86 percent of its small- to medium- sized members saying they use credit and business data checks for new customers and suppliers, compared to 37 percent last year. In addition, 85 percent now use data for ongoing monitoring of suppliers, compared to only 41 percent one year ago.

Signs Express has also published its own survey of 1,085 businesses in the industry, which shows that ‘failing to provide quotes as promised’ is the biggest complaint, with 44 percent of respondents listing hard-selling as their second biggest gripe, while 37 percent said inexperienced suppliers failing to answer questions puts them off doing business with them.

To help combat this economic instability, we are launching two new sections next year; Business Oracle, which will provide advice on everything from sales training to avoiding bad debt; and Get Ahead Online, which will explore how best to boost your online presence and make money from it.

Although it may seem the economy, like the seasons, are locked in winter, the sheer wealth of machine and product releases, new business ventures, charitable campaigns and high quality output prove our industry is in rude health. So with no further ado, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year from everyone at SignLink, thank you one and all for all your contributions, news and support for this, our strongest year to date.