How are things out there in the 'real' economy?

[MaxAndRuby]

Hate to use the term, but you know what I mean.

In automotive IT, trade is down, but people are still spending money and we're getting new business.

[Kozy]

Things are looking peachy where I am in heavy engineering.

[schmalex]

Carrier Networks was great until end of Q3. Q4 is going to be quite a bit tougher though. There is still business out there, but you have to be a lot more creative to get the business cases pushed through.

I dread to think what Q1 / Q2 are going to look like

Edited by schmalex on Thursday 9th October 22:53

[Monki]

Toolmaking is on the up, but this always happens when the rest of the country is in the st.

I think a lot is down to manufacturing having to adjust before the rest of the different jobs sectors and so they are prepared and already used to working in tight conditions.

[Adenauer]

Very quiet in the plastic packaging industry but the orders are still coming in.

I think it might be a generation thing but I worry when the phone isn't ringing, but then people tell me the most of the business is done via email so I shouldn't be worrying.

[chris watton]

Well, my wife's website is still selling a lot (hobby website) - the ONLY country she has seen a decline in orders is the UK!

[kambites]

We're seeing higher sales figures than projected before the slump, both in the UK and the US.

[ihatesissycars]

The chain of dealerships I work for were doing ok up until last month. All but one of the departments were under budget last month.

A friend that owns two cycle shops though has said business is rocketing. He's been taking twice what he did last year as each month goes by. I'm guessing alot more people are ditching their cars for bikes to maybe save money.

[MaxAndRuby]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

A mate of mine is a manager at a big Morrisons, he says no change.

[aciddrop616]

holfords is being affected quite a bit,
weve lost 3-4 fulltimers, and they wont employ 3-4 more full timers, just up to 10 part timers as its cheaper.

and theyve not done that, theyve taken on 3 new people. on part time. so they are saving maybe 15-20k a year (our store is any way) though not rehiring the staff we desperately need.

thom

[_Batty_]

Construction is up the stter
just incase you where wondering

[sprinter885]

Heard on the radio that a (motor)bike shop in Geordie land was doing well-probably more people taking to 2 wheels to cut travel costs.
For me I have a bed shop & footfall is very much lower but those coming in are spending & overall takings not too bad. A couple of bed manufacturers are struggling & 2 practically stopped trading in last couple of weeks.

[Raffles]

I'm drilling for oil in the North Sea - we're busy just now.

[sprinter885]

So.. you finding any then Raffles ??

[The Londoner]

My business relies on other businesses needing new premises, whether larger or smaller. Have not yet seen any evidence of businesses downsizing to smaller premises but a lot of businesses are sitting on their hands for at least the next 12 months to see which way the wind is blowing. Which doesn't help.

[richardxjr]

Print (barometer industry) Made provision last Nov for a forecasted 20% drop in sales.

YTD is -15%

Good summer for us. April & May were our worst months. Autumn holding up OK.

Not seeing as much insolvency in the trade as I expected.

Yet.

[dan1981]

Used car supermarket - wide spread redundancies. left right and centre.

[Raffles]

sprinter885 said:

So.. you finding any then Raffles ??

Right now we are sitting above a substantial reservoir but it is proving a challenge to get the damn stuff out.

Still lots and lots out here.

[johnfm]

MaxAndRuby said:

Hate to use the term, but you know what I mean.

In automotive IT, trade is down, but people are still spending money and we're getting new business.

What is automotive IT?

[DOOG]

MaxAndRuby said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

A mate of mine is a manager at a big Morrisons, he says no change.

Costco posted a decent set of figs yesterday...

Wal-Mart sales up..

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/progressivegrocer...


The lower end of the market seems to be doing ok, as youd expect.. More people are watching their grocery spend..