Gillian's upbeat in downturn

The Buzz spoke to Busworks' MD Gillian Harwood about what managing through an economic storm is really like.

Gillian's well placed to give advice. She said, "I started in business during the financial chaos of 1975/6. There was an oil crisis, a 3-day week, secondary bank failure, and the rather more stylish 'credit corset' as opposed to the somewhat brash 'credit crunch' of today," she said.

These were testing times standing Gillian in good stead during the UK's seismic economic shift from manufacturing to service industries and privatised monopolies through 1980/82. Interest rates hit 12% and unemployment rose to 3 million. 

Then came an even worse recession in 1989/92 that brought with it the abolition of two-person mortgage relief, commercial property failure, Black Wednesday, and the massive 15% interest rates. 

Gillian is passing on advice she's learned through each of these downturns in this month's top tips column. Gillain said, "Just one thing to add. At The Busworks, we're here to help our clients. If anything's worrying you, please talk to us early on. We understand, we've got through this before."