DANNY WILLIAMS ‘COLD CALLING’

Each month our special correspondent Danny Williams* replies to a reader’s letter...

“As we get into 2023 Danny, I can’t help but feel anxious. We are a small but successful installer and business is not too bad currently. But I am on the verge of not listening to the news anymore as it’s all pretty depressing. What’s your take.” RW Hampshire a shortage of workers; more than half (56%) of those businesses reported employees were working increased hours as a result of these shortages and 40% reported they were unable to meet demands.’ to pack it in.

But I wonder if everything is as bad as it is painted: Let’s take the strikes for example: as the owner of a business, you are in direct control of your own employee relations. The chances are you do not have unions calling the shots and as you tell me you have less than 25 employees, you and your co-directors and managers really should have a finger on the pulse of the mood amongst your people. And at this level we should be able to nip any issues in the bud. Issues that, by and large, are a lot less complex than within the workforces of tens of thousands, such as in those organisations that are currently strike bound.

Staffing for any business generally remains a critical issue but predominantly because of the difficulty in getting people of any size and shape, let alone those with skills and a decent work ethic. The Office of National Statistics issued figures in its ‘Business insights and impact on the UK economy’ published on January 12th, confirming, for example, that ‘in early January 2023, more than a quarter (28%) of businesses with 10 or more employees reported they were experiencing

For us RW, the issue is finding staff, not those that we have striking. Strikes are devastating public sectors and larger former nationalised, organisations, with little if anything in the news about private companies being hit. There is of course sympathy for nurses and doctors and related staff and we all have a story about ambulances and A&E; we are a third world country in that respect and perhaps the greatest incentive to stay well is the thought of waiting for 9 hours or longer in a filthy A&E department. Something has to be done for all of our sakes; even if we are able to afford health insurance the NHS is the first port of call through A&E and, unfortunately, self-isolating GPs.

But let’s drill down a bit: many – most? - NHS employees effectively receive pay rises through the banding system, which offers pay increases every two to three of years as a service award. According to the information widely available on the NHS Employers website, at band 5 for example, it is more than £2,000, or a tad under 8% for a current banding increase that is automatically awarded for completing two years of service. And against a basic working week of 37.5 hours, nurses for example, have numerous opportunities to up their wages through what is known as a ‘bank’ shift, or overtime to you and me. A Williams family member regularly knocks over an extra shift to earn themselves an additional £250. It’s not as bad as its painted by the press RW.

“That means decent sales and respectable lead times once again, back from the unmanageable madness of post-Covid. And have you tried to get a builder in? Or electrician, plumber or other trades lately? Still up to their eyes to the point where many simply won’t pick up if they don’t recognise the number.”

Former public sector businesses continue to be stricken by the ‘public sector’ attitude to employment. I have zero sympathy for these as you might expect and I am not alone: train drivers can go whistle, literally, for being downright greedy as millions of their ‘customers’ find other ways to get around or not bothering at all. They are well paid by any standards.

And another bunch intent on shooting themselves in both feet, with an Uzi, are the posties, who will in due course create a pool of unskilled people on the market when the Royal Mail finally goes belly up after the strikes finish the business off completely. Wake up and smell the coffee posties, there are lots of alternatives to the ‘service’ that you offer! For letter post all that is left for you to deliver is a bit of junk mail, with everything else delivered more efficiently by a dozen competitors.

So where does that leave the rest of us? Each of my businesses ended 2022 and began January well enough, and whilst it is early days we are comparing well with 2019. That means decent sales and respectable lead times once again, back from the unmanageable madness of post-Covid. And have you tried to get a builder in? Or electrician, plumber or other trades lately? Still up to their eyes to the point where many simply won’t pick up if they don’t recognise the number.

Add the excellent Christmas sales into the mix, full restaurants and a feeling of almost disappointment in the press that recession was averted by the World Cup in Qatar, and actually, RW, I don’t things are going badly at all.

My advice, therefore, is that you should stop listening to news channels and a media sector that is intent on ‘dooming it down’. Give them all up, though with the exception of the extraordinary publication that you are currently reading.