The way the situation is being dealt with is obviously disgraceful, but their are few winners when any company goes to the wall. Of course, when it is your business accommodation that is on the line, there are serious complications in addition to the loss of money.

Anyone taking up a license with a business centre should ensure that their deposit is being held in a separate account and credit checks and/or search at Companies House should be automatic.

It is important to note that not all business centre’s are the same and that serviced offices still provide a flexible, low-cost solution to many organisations.

The reason for some providers to struggle is that, in an economic climate where businesses are having to downsize or close and where wages are being frozen, at best, and, at worst, steff are losing their jobs, demand for office space of any sort is falling.

It is precisely because of the above, that serviced office centres should not all be tarred with the same brush, because their very nature can help small and struggling business tyo survive and grow in these difficult times.

It’s a shame that the RMT is run by this man, a communist like Bob Crow really ought not to get involved in wage issues, as he clearly has no idea of money.

While 5% is too big an increase in today’s terms, it was set in line with inflation a year ago. Johnson is trying to gloss over the fact that next year’s figures will relate to today’s inlfation figures – the tube workers will have to deal with that next year. Boris can’t have his cake and eat it.

When I lived in Sydenham a couple of years ago I shopped on the high street regularly. I rarely used the local franchise supermarket you mention, which I found poor, including some of the staff. However, I did normally shop at the local greengrocers, which was superb – far cheaper than the supermarket and with a huge range. Plus it was staffed by people who actually owned it, which meant they were customer-focused to the point where they were on first-name terms with many customers. Using local shops generally means that more of the money you spend remains in your community, and the decline of such shops is probably one of many reasons why inequalities have increased in this country and the majority of people have not gained from rising wealth. It will be interesting to see whether the new Tescos attracts customers in, or if these people are more likely to go to the much larger drive-to supermarket in Lower Sydenham. My hunch is that unfortunately it will hurt local trade.

A very interesting post. I live in a small town called Lytham, which has a high street almost exclusively filled with independent retailers. We have a small co-op store at one end of the high street and a rather dilapidated Spar at the other end. We also have a lovely book store, two bakeries, a fishmongers, a butchers, two greengrocers, a children’s toy shop, a dozen or so restaurants and lots of little clothes boutiques.

Or I should say, we did.

Since Tesco Express opened on the High Street, both the greengrocers failed despite having been in Lytham for decades. Both the bakery shops closed, and so did the sandwich shop. The next step was the freeholders trying to offset losses by upping rents – this led to the closure of the nursery shop, the pottery painting cafe, one of the boutiques, the bedding and homewares shop, one of the sandwich shops and half a dozen restaurants. With each closure, it gets harder for the shops that are left behind.

Not that I blame Tesco per se – but Lytham’s retail is dying. The size and buying power of a company like Tesco means the independent family businesses cannot hope to compete, and the money that’s spent in Tesco doesn’t come back into the town – it goes flying straight out of the region. From having family businesses who employed local people, bought local houses and funded local events, we’ve got Tesco who take the £1 in £8 and give it to their shareholders.

I’m a realist about business, but I do think it’s very sad when small communities are ruined by these Express stores.