We are still coming to terms with the impact of this dreadful virus. Some business sectors are being hit harder than others and sadly some – through no fault of their own – will never come back.

I accept new jobs are being created but with respect, many of these are likely to be low paid and not particularly satisfying. Ok – half a loaf is better than none but is still going to be tough to take particularly for those in the older age groups who have experienced something more rewarding.

Having a “Service” based economy is all well and good for keeping unemployment low BUT delivering parcels – serving deep-fried chicken and flipping burgers is hardly going to create a sound long term and prosperous economy producing products the rest of the world wants to buy from us.

One side effect I did not see coming – holiday entitlements! We are now finding suppliers are taking much longer to answer phones and deliveries are arriving late. This is down – at least in part – to staff shortages – nothing to do with virus infections or isolation but because staff are using up holidays that in normal circumstances would have been spread out over the year.

I am not sure how any of this can be addressed – It may be a case of…

“Its life Jim but not as we know it!”