Money madness
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Why is it that the innocent victims of the recession are, as always, those unsung and enduring heroes of the British economy — the small businessmen struggling to earn an honest living?
Banks and financial institutions, for whom nothing was too much trouble for the smooth-talking but debt-laden big boys in rosier times, are now retreating with all the grace of an Iraqi armoured division.
As a business consultancy currently working with two firms in the road haulage business, we see graphic examples of this on a daily basis.
Finance packages which would have sailed through a few months ago are now being sunk without so much as an explanation.
For one of our clients, a well-established specialist trailer manufacturer, it would be much easier to know what the bank really wants if only it would stop panicking and look at the order book.
For the other, a very experienced dealer, life would be much happier if leasing houses did not treat the applications of eager would-be clients like indecent propositions.
Ambitious operators are stymied, manufacturers and dealers are losing sales. The road transport industry as a whole is saddled with a deteriorating rolling stock.
But the money men can sit tight until the good times roll again . . . Malcolm Evans, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
• Commercial Motor welcomes readers letters, which can be phoned in on 081-661 3689 (24-hour service). Letters may be edited for length and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor.