The Resolution Foundation's fears of a looming recession come on the back of flat retail sales and declining industrial output.
Most worrying is the inability of government and the Bank Of England to re-apply those levers, such as quantitative easing and near-zero interest rates, which mitigated the worst effects of the 2007-8 banking crisis.
Record numbers of enterprises (69,000 and counting) have recently appealed their rates bills, and Commercial Property Advisors (CPA), with their no win no fee service, strongly recommend firms, particularly those whose business may have been affected by adverse changes such as roadworks, or which have changed the range and layout of its products, to contact them for friendly advice and assistance.
If economic storm-clouds really are on the horizon, now is the ideal time for enterprises to reduce a major component of their overheads.