But are all recessions actually that bad? I've had several conversations lately with sign makers who have said business has been actually quite good during the down turn. Unstable competitors have disappeared, new businesses have emerged and with changes in legislation or business in general they have needed new signs. Plus after the initial downturn cash flow improved as those businesses still standing pay on time.

I've known several economic downturns over the years and each one has been different. The doldrums that were the mid 1970s with 20 percent inflation, strikes and high unemployment also saw a change in the economy as more people bought homes, old industries closed and a new wave of new businesses flourished like Habitat and Laura Ashley. Do you remember companies that stripped the paint off pine doors in acid baths? It was a different era when not being a union could cost you your job.

Many of the businesses that flourished in the high days of the mid 1980s went under leaving many in retail and service industries picking up their P45s”

There was the big dip in 1981 when the economy went into a nose dive as the Government privatised industries and Thatcherism saw off the era of trade union power. Then it was British Leyland workers along with those who worked for state backed industries that felt the chill.

In 1989 the economy again took a dive as interest rates hit record highs, the economy overheated and the country went into recession. Many of the businesses that flourished in the high days of the mid 1980s went under leaving many in retail and service industries picking up their P45s.

This recession has seen whole sectors of the economy untouched as it has coincided with the growth of the internet. Online shopping has boomed while the high street has suffered with several big names going pear shaped. Many businesses however have found the recession has been good for them. Wages are squeezed, the internet has helped to keep costs down, and a shake up in the economy often sees competitors drop out of the game. And new businesses have started which we couldn't even imagine back in the 1970s or the 1980s before the internet changed everything.

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