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Latest GDP data

ended 11. October 2022

Tomorrow morning @ 07:00 the Office for National Statistics is publishing the latest GDP data, which will show where the economy is at. We're keen to know how the economy is feeling for you right now as a business or charity owner and will do our best to get your views into the local, trade and national media. Selection of questions below. Please don't write an essay. 2-3 pars max will be lovely.

  • How's the economy feeling for you right now?
  • How confident are you about the next 12 months?
  • What are the main challenges facing you as a business or charity?
  • Is the Government in touch with what's happening on the ground?
  • If you could have a minute with the PM and Chancellor, what would you say to them (language, Timothy!)?

10 responses from the Newspage community

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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
It currently feels like we're on the Titanic. Some sectors, like Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack, are in steerage, wile others, for now at least, are in first class, doing exceptionally well. However, it feels like everyone aboard UK plc is about to sink to the depths, due to the iceberg that is sky-high inflation, the energy crisis and sharply rising mortgage payments. Unfortunately, the captain, our Chancellor, seems totally oblivious to the obvious danger.
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Sam Alsop-Hall
Chief Strategy Officer at Clive Henry Group
I'm a business owner with a number of fast growing companies that have been very successful in recent years. For the first time, we are in a real state of flux and indecision. We've just outgrown our office space and my business partner and I are sat wondering whether it's safe or sensible to press the button on getting bigger premises. We're definitely not alone in our uncertainty. We can't forecast with confidence for the next 3-5 years of our business journey as energy bills soar, the property market teeters on the brink and the government dances the Hokey Cokey with personal tax rates, interest rates and corporation taxes. It's difficult to look further ahead than Christmas right now with any real conviction or certainty, let alone make decisions for the long term. Business confidence boomed in the short-term bounce back after the pandemic, but now it's starting to waiver once again. The true cost and impact of the past few years is being compounded by rate rises, inflation and the energy crisis, and is now hitting all parts of the economy. The PM and Chancellor need to take immediate action on the property market as I think it's a ticking time bomb right now. If people can't afford their mortgage payments, the whole thing collapses. The mortgage crisis is the next energy crisis and everyone can see that bar our Government.
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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Independent Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial
It seems to be one thing after the other. We were all talking about how high energy bills were and how damaging they were to the economy, and now we are talking about the cost of borrowing. Unlike personal borrowing, businesses usually pay a flexible rate of interest on credit that is linked to the Bank of England base rate. We all expect that to go up significantly in November to add to the rises we have already seen this year. It's going to hurt, big time. I am pleased that the fiscal statement has been brought forward, but the OBR should be able to release their forecasts, that they say they have, now. A U-turn on the additional tax rate isn't going to be enough to satisfy the markets that the Tories are still fiscally responsible. There needs to be more give in the fiscal statement that will be realised on Halloween, of all days. If there is some movement, hopefully the Bank of England's decision on interest rates three days later, won't need to be so frightening.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Since the mini-budget, I have gone from being confident about the outlook of UK Plc to being extremely worried. I keep on thinking I am in an episode of Dallas where tomorrow I will wake up, find Boris in the shower, and realise the past few weeks have been an exceptionally bad dream.
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Mark Robinson
Managing Director at Albion Forest Mortgages
I feel like our country's economy is balancing on a knife edge, and unfortunately we have the equivalent of Mr Bean wielding the knife. I am confident that the British people will get through this together, but our government has shown that they don't know what they are doing and are completely out of touch. If the government doesn't get a handle on things, it isn't just borrowers who will suffer with rising rates. Mortgage brokers, estate agents, solicitors, builders, letting agents, developers, surveyors, and many many more sectors will struggle.
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Keith Budden
Managing Director at Ensurety
If you think of the economy as one of those tacky snow globe ornaments, then after Brexit knocked it off the shelf, Covid gave it a shake, and the Chancellor's mini-Budget smashed it to pieces. The economy feels so fragile right now that it won't be long before we all become hermits trading vegetables. It feels like someone has put up a bloody great sign above our economy, "Closing Down sale, will the last person out please turn off the lights." In my 25 years plus in business, I've never met a Government that is so out of touch with what's happening on the ground. They are complete amateurs totally lacking in foresight, empathy and understanding of the markets. When the Chancellor decided to bring the financial statement forward to the 31st October, Halloween, I bet the headline writers couldn't believe their luck. I just hope, any moment now, someone will pinch me and I will wake up to find the past few weeks have been a vivid red wine and cheese-fuelled nightmare.
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Jannice Jones
Founder at Jannice Jones Whole Being Living
Currently, the economy feels like it is hanging by a thread. Reason and compassion have left the building and the lunatics are running the asylum. If the current Government stays in control, I have zero faith that we will be looked on by the rest of the world as anything but a complete joke. It's like the government are hell-bent on taking us over a cliff as fast as possible. My main challenges are cash flow and budgeting. The government is in no way shape or form in touch with what is going on on the ground. Their latest budget was morally disgraceful as well as making us economically bankrupt. If I had a minute with the PM, I would say "shame on you. How do you sleep at night?'
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Ryan Venner
Managing Director at Premier Jobs UK
Turbulent times are rapidly approaching. Business owners across all industries share feelings of apprehension and trepidation, as we inescapably await the true force of the storm. But dwelling on how this dark cloud that has been allowed to emerge does not serve us well. Business owners need to focus on what they can control, and many for now will be focused on survival and basic progress, not perfection. In moments like these, we need to unite together, embrace resilience and seek opportunities. But it's set to be a brutal 2023.
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Lucy Scott
Director at Lil's Parlour CIC
Never in my 8 years of running Lil's Parlour have things seemed as frightening as they do now. I have never felt less confident that in 12 months time my community interest company will still be here. We are a pay as you can bakery, and demand is starting to outstrip what I can provide as more people are accessing my services due to the cost of living crisis. The customers coming through my door are paying what they can but this is simply not enough to cover the constant flurry of price hikes and changes. Just last week the price of 12 eggs increased by 40% between Monday and Friday. It's great to be busy but I can't help wondering if I am a busy fool as I am currently working with no salary. My main aim is keep this ship sailing for the good of my community. The government are so out of touch with normal people I wonder if they actually reside on planet Zog. My message to them would be to come out and speak to normal people on the street, wander around Aldi on a Monday afternoon and watch people choosing between a tin of beans or a bag of pasta. Visit the estates local to me where volunteers are providing window cover blankets preparing to keep people warm. Visit somewhere like my bakery where weekly I am wiping the tears of local residents who feel desperate. These people are nurses, teachers, office workers or holding up the economy in the local factories. I will provide my services for as long as I can but even for someone like me, who is usually stoic and positive, it's starting to feel like an impossible task.
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Sara Hall
Founder at Lilibet & Phil Publishing House
I have never felt so insecure in my life. I buy a lot of tech for my small business in dollars and the exchange rate right now is pricing everything out of my reach. As a small business owner, battling rising energy costs has been hard enough to cope with on a personal level. Each month is a battle even before I think about the business costs. Trying to support the many small businesses I work with, whilst struggling myself, is starting to have a huge impact on my mental health. No one I speak to has any confidence, or the faintest hope that this situation will ease off in 2023. Many artisan small businesses are closing their doors, turning off their kilns and giving up hope. It's a heart breaking time for many.