The Government does not appear to have any short or long term policies to reversing the economic downturn - Yorkshire Post Letters

In the news each and every day, more and more businesses are closing, partially blaming this due to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn budget statement regarding increased staff cost.

In the hospitality and leisure sector this is being felt now, as a number of large garden centres and independent growers, who have retail garden centres attached, are closing in January and February 2025.

The Royal Horticultural Society have predicted that customers are going away from planting costly seasonal flowering annual bedding plants as they are short lived and choosing more permanent plantings with herbaceous perennials and shrubs.

Pubs are trying to 'ride the storm' with some closing on Mondays and Tuesdays to save on staff, heating and lighting costs.

Many of the breweries have started charging an extra 10p a pint at wholesale prices to pub landlords, which the pub owners will have to pass onto customers.

This will be followed in April with another 5-10p to cover additional staff costs due to the minimum wage and National Insurance uplift from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent.

This in reality will mean more pubs closing at a faster rate in 2025.

A number of small independent bakeries, like Hull Pie are closing due to increased staff, materials and energy cost.

Some have been trading for as many as 70 years so have got through previous recessions, but now it has got too much and they are reluctantly having to make long serving and loyal staff redundant and thus adding to the unemployment figures with more claiming benefits and are unproductive.

My observations are that the signs of the country being in recession will be noticed in April 2025 at the earliest.

Even fruit and vegetable traders, like Dennis Butler and Associated Growers at Hull's wholesale fruit and vegetable market are saying that they haven't been so quiet in January for many years.

At least four florists have closed and those still trading are struggling to cover their cost.

If trading doesn't pick up for Valentines's Day and Mother’s Day more florists will close.

The reason being customers don't have confidence in the government's policies and are reluctant to spend on any form of luxuries, like new plants in their gardens.

The government doesn't appear to have any short or long term policies to reversing this downturn.