THINK LOCAL: REVIVE THE UK ECONOMY

The euro appears to be in meltdown and some economists are predicting a `double dip’ recession. But is it all doom and gloom for UK Plc? Maybe if we all started to think local when buying goods and services there would be less consumption of global resources and a few more UK jobs might be created.

If you wander around the average supermarket you will see fruit and vegetables flown in from every corner of the world. It’s a nice indulgence of course, but we could actually choose more food from the UK, saving a fortune on air freight and creating some more jobs right here.

Fact is we import an enormous amount of stuff from overseas and a glance at the state of our manufacturing shows it’s most definitely the Cinderella of UK business.  Nobody seems to want to see factories set up and work at full tilt making things any longer – from cars to vacuum cleaners, curtains to chocolates, everything is either foreign owned if made here, or else long since vanished overseas. It’s not good in the long run, we need to make more products and market them better in the UK and then globally.

SAME APPLIES TO LONDON?

Call us old fashioned here at Source PR in Cheshire, but the same can be applied to a regional economy.  We don’t understand why many business people feel they have to outsource business services to a `big’ London accountancy, ad agency or law firm once their company reaches a certain level.

What seems even stranger is that some “regional” businesses are even paying to have a “London address” to appear bigger in an effort to attract regional work?  Such tokenism just seems a waste all round?  

We think it’s great if you’re employing over 500 staff, but maybe local professional talent is being ignored in the rush for ‘London’ status.  Big isn’t always best, sometimes it just leads to a big bill at the end of the month…

The great thing about modern technology is that it allows you to be based anywhere and immediately available if needed.  We reckon if more business people made a conscious decision to consider the local option before calling in the `big boys,’ the UK economy would have more balance, a wider variety of sectors and start to recover from the ground up.

There are sound reasons for choosing the best goods and services that you can afford, no matter where they come from, but sometimes there are talented people and great value products just waiting to be discovered right there on your doorstep.  Don’t get dazzled by the bright lights or eastern promise.