North firms buck the recession trend

Apr 5 2009 by Robert Weatherall, Sunday Sun

HARDLY a day goes by without announcements of more job losses and well-known companies going bust. Unemployment has topped two million and high-street names including Woolworths, Zavvi and MFI have now been consigned to history.

But the downturn is just what the doctor ordered for some businesses, which have seen an unexpected rise in customers. ROBERT WEATHERALL spoke with credit crunch winners . . .

IN a recession things generally tend to fall. Be it house prices or job vacancies, the general trend is downwards.

But there are glimmers of hope among the wreckage of the credit crunch. Entrepreneur Frances Chalmers believes people have turned to handmade quality – and are contenting themselves with low key luxuries – amid the current hard times. And it seems there’s one thing women can’t do without . . . their shoes.

The 37-year-old re-mortgaged her home three and a half years ago to set up exclusivefootwear.com – a company selling designer shoes.

Frances, originally from Newcastle but now living in York, says that sales are up by 135pc compared with last year and figures for March indicate a 150pc increase.

The mum-of-two said: “When the words ‘credit crunch’ were first mentioned I feared that my business would be hit particularly hard.

“The average price of a pair of shoes here is £200.

“What we have seen instead is a massive increase, so much so that I am now opening a dedicated children’s store and I am going to take on some more staff.

“I think it could be down to the fact that if people are having to forgo big treats such as new cars or foreign holidays then perhaps they are cheering themselves up by buying smaller treats.