Economists at Standard Chartered bank said that global growth will slow significantly to 2.2% and the UK economy will contract by 1.3% in 2012. This is in contradiction to the Office for Budget Responsibility who said it expects the UK economy to grow by 0.9% in 2012. This type of confusing and contradictory news is not really productive for UK small to medium sized businesses as it makes planning very difficult today.

No-one is disputing that times are not tough and trading conditions are difficult. However, I really do not think it is helpful for two widely respected organisations such as the Office for Budget Responsibility and the economics research team at Standard Chartered bank to have such differing predictions.

Small Business owners yes you should be aware of your economic surroundings and not take foolish risks in challenging times but concentrate on your product and service, your customer service and keep chipping away. The world is not going to end!!!

The BBC News site have done a good article ( UK economy ‘to face bigger downturn ‘) as ever, you should take a look.