Maybe not a V but certainly not an L – that’s my assessment of how Britain’s post-Covid recovery is going. Despite an apparent uptick in infections, selective lockdowns and travel quarantines, slowly but surely the country is getting back to work.
I know it’s only anecdotal but every conversation I’ve had with employers and employees alike suggests that economically we’re very much over the worst.
The guys who finished relaying my patio yesterday are working all weekend and are inundated with work.
My local pub’s restaurant is getting more diners than ever before.
After months on furlough and worries about whether he would lose his job my neighbour’s son is back working full-time at a video company.
My local garage, which was shut for the first six weeks of lockdown, has been “non-stop” for months since it reopened.
And thankfully after two very quiet months my own business is picking up nicely too.
Although all those I speak to admit to feeling a little overwhelmed by the sudden turnaround you can tell they’re making the most of the pent up demand that is out there.
High streets look as busy as they did pre-lockdown and, if the evidence, of the pictures of staycation holiday makers on our beaches is to be believed, some of the leisure industry must be getting a boost.
I’ve always thought that the special circumstances of this slump, caused by a pandemic rather than an economic crash, might lend itself to a quick recovery.
It’s been sad to hear the daily news of job losses and business closures and it’s true that unemployment will inevitably increase. On the plus side those that have benefited from the lockdown by continuing to work from home or on furlough may well have seen their savings increase with nothing much to spend their money on.
Now, out of lockdown, they’ll be looking to spend that money and for some lean and agile businesses there will be big opportunities to come and the jobs that inevitably result.
After the carnage of World War One that was followed by the Spanish flu outbreak, between them killing an estimated 70 million people, there came the Roaring Twenties.
That was a decade of economic prosperity and cultural dynamism. Jazz blossomed, the flapper redefined the modern look for British and American women and Art Deco peaked. It also saw the large scale development and use of cars, telephones , movies, radio and electrical appliances. Nations saw rapid industrial and economic growth, accelerated consumer demand and changes in lifestyle and culture.
After this awful start to the decade I’m living in hope that a hundred years later we see a Roaring Twenty Twenties.