British lawmakers check on how banks are treating small businesses during pandemic metro.us - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from metro.us Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The glass-half-full conundrum usually reflects a mixture of philosophy, perception and context.
For Britain’s trade figures, it could represent the difference between life and death for some businesses.
Brexiteers declared victory last week as data showed trade levels bounced back in February, edging towards normality after a record plunge in January. But the headline figures hid lasting pain for some exporters, and serious questions about the future of British trade with Europe.
Goods exports bounced back nearly 50pc compared to the previous month, recovering about half the ground lost during January’s plunge, but leaving a substantial chunk left to find.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Forget the start of grouse shooting in August; for Britain’s small businesses, the “Glorious Twelfth” arrived early on 12 April with the long-anticipated reopening of pubs, shops, salons and restaurants, said Jayna Rana on ThisIsMoney.co.uk. The mood was upbeat. The Federation of Small Businesses reported that confidence is at its highest level since 2014, thanks to the perceived “certainty” provided by the Government’s roadmap. After three months of “being deprived of a retail fix”, shoppers were out in force, said Larry Elliott in The Guardian. Economists say it’s “unwise to read too much into one month’s data”, let alone “one day’s footfall”, but the first signs were encouraging. Nonetheless, footfall was still down on the same day two years ago – “a long-lost time of innocence when pandemics, mass vaccination programmes and needing face masks to enter shops were the stuff of sci-fi movies”.
AN ALLIANCE of small business groups have had their say on how enterprises like theirs can lead a green recovery from lockdown. The coalition of groups, known as the Zero Carbon Business Partnership, is made up of leading organisation from East Lancashire, the North West and beyond. Together they have released a report, entitled Small Business Advice on Net Zero, which has found that many small and medium sized enterprises do indeed want to cut carbon emissions and find more environmentally friendly ways of operating, but are unsure where do start and need more guidance. East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Miranda Barker said: We at East Lancashire Chamber and our partners have of course been working across Lancashire over the last few years to support all our businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.