What is this? Could this actually be what I think it is? Summer?
Well, yes it is! It looks like the sun and some genuine heat is about to show it’s face for a bit longer than just two days. As we all know, the last few British summers have consisted of about one good week in early March/late April, with about one good day in July then that’s about it. But with temps set to rise to 30 degrees in part of the UK this week, and after a decent week previously, it looks like we’re going to have a proper taste of the hot stuff!
Rejoice! This sort of weather will be getting businesses rubbing their hands together. Our industry, just like the high streets, is very much affected by the weather. Cold and wet, expect it to be dead. Hot, sunny and dry, expect to be busy. Despite a slow start to the year, a decent spell of sunny, hot and dry weather could see a pretty large amount of business being done for the next few months.
The weather isn’t the only bit of good news out recently. Construction is finally starting to see some positive upward movement for the second month in a row. Which is important as construction is one of our biggest sectors. But on top of that, it turns out that the double-dip recession never actually happened. Yes it is very, very close when you look at the figures (£26m being the difference) but the double-dip was actually only ever a dip. So, as slow as it may seem, the UK economy is on a very shallow climb to recovery.
However, it is the numbers that aren’t important. It’s the headlines. The news made the most of the bad numbers, but they are now making the most of the good numbers which, if you’re a consumer and watch the news channels, will help create a better buying mood.
For the first time a quite a while, there seems to be quite a few positives all coming together at the right time. I do honestly believe that these can create a much better business environment which should encourage more and more people to spend a bit more their cash they have been sitting on for a while.
