Firm's roller coaster ride

By Will Smale
Business reporter, BBC News

Carl Bradley's business has had a roller coaster rider since last summer

It is unlikely Carl Bradley will ever forget last September.

"Business just fell off a cliff," he says. "There was nothing gradual about it, it was just - bang - gone."

Carl, 31, the owner of computer and TV shop Fusion Systems in Eastbourne, East Sussex, is casting his mind back to last autumn's global banking crisis that sparked the continuing recession.

"As soon as all the banks started going to the wall, customers just stopped spending," he says.

"I've seen recessions before, but I'd never seen business just disappear like that. It was a nerve-wracking time, to say the least."

Almost a barometer for the wider economy, Carl said business had been booming just before the bubble burst so dramatically.

I'm not saying we are out of the woods yet, but things have slowly got better Carl Bradley

"From April to August last year we were the busiest we had ever been, our turnover was £80,000 up on the year before," he smiles.

"My wife and I had nice, wonderful plans - we were planning a second shop in Tunbridge Wells, and looking for a bigger house.

"That all got cancelled immediately, and we were in survival mode. Between September and December our trade was £160,000 less than a year earlier."

'Take a gamble'

In business for 12 years, Fusion Systems has a large shop on a busy road just off the main street in Eastbourne, serving both private and business customers.

Run by Carl and his wife Carley, they immediately realised last September that remedial action was necessary.

So they starting going down the route of cutting back on the stock they had on their shelves.

"But this very quickly started to have a negative affect on the business - customers just won't buy from you if they think you aren't going to be around tomorrow," says Carl.

"So instead, we thought we'd take a gamble on bringing in new lines, cheaper items to sell alongside our existing products, improve how the shop looked, and take it from there.

"We have also increased the number of TVs we have for sale, and thankfully it all seems to have worked - we are still here."

No staff

What Carl freely admits has been a saving grace, is that he and his wife have no employees to pay.

Fusion's engineers are all self-employed

Instead, while he has three computer engineers on site to carry out any maintenance or repair work customers need, they are all self-employed.

The engineers get all the money from any repairs they do, and the shop gets all the money from sales.

"It may seem an unusual way of doing things, but it works really well. And for the engineers it means they don't have to worry about advertising or getting their own workshop," says Carl.

"And from my point of view, having to pay wages at the end of last year could have been a killer."

'Getting better'

While the UK recession may still be hurting many retailers, Carl says that - at least from his point of view - the worst now appears to be over.

Mr Bradley decided Fusion should increase the number of TVs it sells

This is in marked contrast to the UK's largest computer and TV seller DSG International - the owner of Currys and PC World - which last week reported an annual loss of £140m for the year to 2 May, and warned that consumer spending would continue to be weak.

However, official figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown that overall consumer spending continued to rise slowly between January and April, only falling in May - so the picture is mixed to say the least.

"I'm not saying we are out of the woods yet, but things have slowly got better - customers are starting to spend again," says Carl.

"A few months ago people would come in to look and they go away and think about it before they made a purchase, now we are getting people coming in and buying there and then."

British Retail Consortium spokesman Krishan Rama said that to help small shops such Fusion Systems drive the recovery, "the government should help by not piling new cost or regulatory burdens on the sector".

He adds: "This includes freezing business rates and scrapping the planned 0.5% increase in National Insurance contributions - which is simply a tax on jobs."

'Terrible delays'

Although Carl has seen trading conditions recover, he says there are still some hurdles to jump.

"It's still very difficult to get in the stock, as both manufacturers and suppliers have cut their supplies right down in response to the recession," he says.

"You have manufacturers who have laid off staff, which is totally understandable. But this means there are now terrible delays in getting supplies in as orders start to recover.

"And despite the government's efforts, the banks still don't want to know if you want to extend your overdraft or get a loan.

"But generally, while I haven't got the confidence I had at the end of last summer, things are certainly now looking up again."