Recession. A word that we constantly hear within British media; the collapse of the economic market which seemingly shapes our everyday lives.  Spending cuts, austerity, we are constantly reminded of the economic downturn. Recently, Britain lost its gold plated AAA credit rating, with rates slumping to a new low against the US dollar. But is it really that bad?  I interviewed John Peters; founder of JP Removals, a removals firm based in Carshalton Beeches.

SERENA: What with the constant reference to the recession within our media circulation, do you think the situation is more or less serious than how it is portrayed?
JOHN: Well certain aspects are really tough, especially with the company being based in the removals sector. I think in some ways it’s worse than what the media say, it particularly affects the company in that not many people are moving at the moment, for obvious reasons.

SERENA: Obviously the Government are introducing schemes to combat the effect of the recession, but with many Members of Parliament living a more luxurious life, do you view MPs as out of touch?
JOHN: Definitely. There are far too many people involved with fixing this, and there’s a big waste of public funds and resources.

SERENA: Are there any specific ways that you’d spend the money, what do you think needs fixing?
JOHN: Immigration can be a problem in some areas, but also there’s a lot of fraud. For example, you constantly hear about people selling products on the black market, there’s the horse meat scandal of course.

SERENA: Since the recession, do you think businesses are disappearing or that there’s less competition?
JOHN: No, in fact it just means that companies offer cheaper services, but nowadays the costs involved with running a business are higher... I suppose you could say that we just tread water.

SERENA: Finally, how would you sum up the local effect of the recession?
JOHN: I think it’s being very hard. Particularly in my business area, most people are now doing self moves. There are a lot of people and businesses, but not many jobs or opportunities for fast growth as a business.

From the interview, I gathered that there was no dramatic exaggeration of what local business owners face in their day to day lives within our local community. I now pose the wider question – is there any way that we could combat this together?