loss of local car parking.

[Not your average framer]

There are already not enough car parking spaces for those who live in the town, but now thelocal authority is planning to take away some of the existing parking bays to turn them in to charging points for electric cars. Foot fall in the town for customers shopping in the town is already virtually non existent and it's steadily becoming worse, which is causing an unbalance in the type of businesses still able to operate in the town. Shops are steadily getting converted to residential premises and things are getting difficult. They are also talking about pedestrianising the shopping areas and not allowing deliveries in normal business hours. There does not seem to be any way to fight this. How do those shop keepers still here manage to fight this?

[Justintime]

Best not think of it as loss of local car parking, but gain of local electric car parking!
Otherwise I'd put it under the heading of Lost Causes...

[Not your average framer]

Some of the other businesses in town have seitched to internet trading, but it does not suit all businesses. One of our local business friends just decided to call it quits just over a year ago. It was time to renew his lease and he decided not to bother and just closed the business.

[JFeig]

Ah, local council members who have not run a retail business strike again.

[Not your average framer]

The government gives them grants to encourage them to do this. Nobody thinks about the consequences, but people are moaning about loses of the shops, the banks and the post office.

[fusionframer]

You'll find that one of the councillors comes to meetings near there and has just bought an electric vehicle.

Nick

[Not your average framer]

Sounds about right!

[Not your average framer]

I wonder if this is going to affect me very much. I'm not much motived to want to trade much on the internet and I don't really know much about how you do stuff like that anyway. Since the stroke, I'm not going to be wanting to do too much work anyway, but I'm not really sure how to keep the demand for framing down to sensible levels.

[Justintime]

Well, if the demand gets too high Mark, we just raise the prices right?

[Not your average framer]

I will have to raise my prices anyway. It's been a while since I last did so! There is of course a balance to be struck. On one side there is the prces and on the other is the volume of work, which I can cope with on a normal basis. I produce a quality of work which I can get good prices for, but there are limits to how much I can charge in an area where so many are retired and living off the interest on their savings. Also people who grew up around here are getting out priced in the devon house buying market, so saving up to buy a house means that they don't have much spending money.

While recovering from my stroke, it's cost me about 8,000 a year to keep paying the bills on my shop. I've still got to pay those bills as part of the cost of running my business, that's about £750 per month and there are some months of the year that are good for business levels and some which are quite poor. Hand finishing is still the only way that I can charge what I need to, but it's a harder economy these days and I've got to win back the levels of business which I have lost, while recovering from the stroke!

Then right out of the blue the council decide to take away some of the nearest parking to my side and we are talking about several spaces. As it is, I need to dispose of much of my existing orignal stock, because I don't have as much space in my new shop and I'm going to need to pay to have it taken away. Selling off your unwanted stock is not greatly successful.