Having caused a furore since the Chancellor’s mini budget was announced at the end of September, financial markets have been in turmoil, with people worried about paying increased energy bills and higher mortgage re-payments due to rampant inflation and soaring interest rates.
So how do leading suppliers view the current situation and how it could affect their business, and the gift and home industry, over the coming months?
In the first of a Feedback series, GiftsandHome spoke to Stephen Illingworth, Widdop & Co’s commercial director, who shared his views.
“Just when we thought we were weathering the worst of the turbulent trading climate, we find ourselves back in the eye of the storm,” comments Widdop & Co’s Stephen Illingworth. “Dealing with the consequences of inflation being the highest it has been in 40 years, is just one of the many challenges we are dealing with.
“Businesses are faced with two extremely risky options right now,” comments Stephen. “Either pass on huge price increases when undoubtedly spending will already be down, or to maintain the stability of their business, consider making compromises. We would never compromise on the quality of our products and services and so creativity and agility have a big part to play in how we operate going forward.”
Emphasises Stephen: “we are a stable business. Next year we celebrate our 140th year, so we are well versed with business challenges. Experience, lessons learned and how best to deal with this crisis have been passed down through the generations. We will therefore navigate our way through by keeping our sight on our customers’ needs and priorities. With that in mind, as of October 1, we lowered the prices on over 850 products. This is incremental to our clearance, promotional and sale activity. This decision is a purposeful action, taken to help our customers remain buoyant and trade successfully in the run up to Christmas. We trust it will bring some early Christmas cheer.”
Top: Stephen Illingworth, commercial director, Widdop & Co.
