There are always opportunities whatever the state of the economy. You don’t have to look too hard to find businesses that are performing well despite the downturn. Here are a handful of headlines that I’ve spotted in the last couple of weeks.
UK tourism
Overseas visitors to the UK are enjoying the benefit of a week pound resulting in London and the UK countryside becoming a tourism hotspot – Germans snap up UK cottage breaks as pound weakens
Meanwhile for Brits locations such as Cornwall, Lake District, London, Northumberland, Pembrokeshire, Scotland are the holiday hotspots for Brits in 2009 – UK holidays…the new attraction for hard-up Britons and 30% rise in hostel bookings
Pasties and pizzas
Pasties and pizzas are in and high priced coffee shops are out. Greggs reported growth last month – Domino’s and Greggs line up higher profits
Cinemas
Consumers are seeking to escape from the economic woe by heading to the movies. The sex industry is reporting an upturn in fortunes for the same reason – UK cinemas dodge recession
Flat screen TVs and home entertainment systems
Big TVs were one of the highlights of the Consumer Electronics Show earlier in the month. Consumers are investing in home entertainment systems as staying in becomes the new going out – TV sales boost for John Lewis
Alternative sources of debt
Social lending networks are enabling lenders to get a greater return than they’d get from a savings account and pawn brokers are enjoying a resurgence. Zopa has just reported a record month and there’s still a week to go – Perfect market for social lending networks?
Own brands and budget supermarkets
Obvious one this; consumers are trading down to supermarket own-brands and value retailers in a bid to save cost – New supermarket price war
DIY
People are doing up their houses and fixing their cars rather than moving house or buying new cars – Halfords reveals rise in sales
I’m on a mission to find growth markets in the private sector despite the economy. Any more examples?
