Editor’s comment for August 2022

Sometimes it’s challenging writing these comments because life, by definition, is a melting pot of peaks and troughs. You win some, you lose some.

These however are unprecedented times. As I write this in early August, there’s so much going on in so many different areas of life, it’s probably best not to think about things too hard. Wise people often say, stop worrying about things you can’t change. Easy in theory; difficult in practice – but for individuals and businesses alike, this really is a time for rolling up the sleeves and just getting on with things as best we can.

We should cut ourselves some slack. When you consider just what’s going on around us at the moment surely we have the right to be somewhat overwhelmed?

The war in Ukraine, stupidly high rising fuel and energy costs; oil companies making billions in profit while large sections of society are faced with heartbreaking ‘eat or heat’ dilemmas; a ‘Government’ in transition that prevents it from making any significant policy changes (like helping people when they really need it with the energy crisis). I could of course also mention chronically stretched supply chains, COVID and Brexit. None of it is helping the cause is it?

I really don’t want to get over political here but as I write this, the candidates to replace the thankfully exiting Boris Johnson – Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss – don’t exactly fill me with confidence. These are people after all who sycophantically united behind the worst Prime Minister in living memory as part of his cabinet. Now, with eyes on the prize, they’ve miraculously metamorphosised into people of sound morals and principles. How commendable.        

I’ll unashamedly nick this quote from The Independent: “Football and politics. One’s an overhyped game filled with preening prima donnas, petty rivalries and players who rarely let loyalty to the team stand in the way of personal ambition. And – you’re ahead of me, aren’t you? – football’s not much better.”

I’ve said this many times – and I’ll continue to say it because I see it all the time in my job and I’ve witnessed it first hand – the manufacturing industry has learned the hard way to be tough, resilient and resourceful.

I mentioned peaks and troughs at the beginning of this comment – well it’s not rocket science to establish which camp we’re in at the moment – but many of these problems are affecting everybody and there are no easy or short term answers. We just need to keep on keeping on.