Economic Growth Remains Anemic

Blog written in 2009. 

When the government first announced the country had emerged from what had been the worst economic downturn for sometime, it was expected that growth would be slow; however, as reports from the first quarter of the year have come in, it appears that growth is even more anemic than expected.

Throughout the first quarter of the year, the economy has grown by just 2 per cent. Many reasons have been given for this, the weather being just one of them.

Michael James, enterprise director at business consultancy ‘ MJ Consultants’ ,comments; “ While we all knew that the pace of economic recovery would be considerably slower than other leading world powers, our recovery has not been helped by factors that are beyond our control, namely the ‘big freeze’ which devastated many retailers throughout January.”

“However, from the feedback we have received from our clients it seems that the majority of small business and company formation owners are positive. Yet as unemployment figures continue to rise and the number of small businesses and recently formed companies , which are looking to employ new staff members is decreasing, it is clear that many challenges are still ahead.”

Economist Alice Wallwork says that she expects recovery to continue but warns that it will not be a quick process; “Companies and entrepreneurs should establish and implement a recovery plan to ensure their businesses survive recovery as well as they did the recession. This is especially important for business owners who have recently gone through the company formation process.