what with all the news about Kovac 19
you might have missed the fact that this
was national pie week but not the team
here at Midland foods they're still busy
making pastries pasties and sausage
rolls the big question is whether people
can account on buying them I think
people are going to stay poor just for a
little while and I think you know again
it's just seeing where the land lies
it's getting through this next couple of
years the worry is that consumers who's
spending is already weakened in the past
year or so will simply stay away from
the shops not to mention restaurants and
cinemas ahead of the budget the big
question businesses are usually asking
is how much of the fiscal pie they'll be
given by the Chancellor and there have
certainly been some big promises for the
east midlands and other parts of the
so-called blue wall this is West
Bromwich East until recently Tom
Watson's constituency former deputy
leader of the Labour Party won by the
Conservatives in the last election and
the whole point of this budget was
supposed to be about delivering for
people in these kinds of areas improving
investment transport links leveling up
rewarding them for as Boris Johnson put
it lending the Tory party their votes
that at least was the big plan
but suddenly events have intervened
coronavirus has already started to
change things for decades many British
manufacturers outsource their production
to China and elsewhere making companies
like anm which makes high-end components
for aerospace Formula One and all you
know your car an outlier
now it's Mike the tide be turning
automotive trade of start to make more
enquiries my assumption is is their
supply chains closed down in China and
when the coronavirus was restricted to
China ghoulishly I thought there were
opportunities there were potential for
reassuring lots of work now that the
virus has spread more globally and
especially into Europe that is not such
a benefit anymore and while as the
chance covert 19 changes the nature of
globalization capitalizing on new
technologies such as 3d printing at all
dependent on businesses actually
surviving the outbreak both on a medical
and on an economic front 4:00 a.m. it's
an existential issue have you ever shut
down before never never in 17
not even viral of this it'll be a huge
split a hugely it will close down for
any length of time our customers have
their own individual needs and I can't
wait two or three weeks for us to get
back up and running again of course this
is just a tiny cross-section of
businesses in the Midlands
but while the economic statistics have
yet to tell us what the corona virus
outbreak will do to the UK economy the
early signs want encouraging we're in
uncharted territory actually and so
retailers have seen a significant
disruption to supply chain and so
there's some areas within retail that
are seeing a squeeze on supply but also
this is being matched by nervousness
around consumers actually going out and
visiting read the retail destinations so
it's actually coming from both angles
which brings us back to the budgets does
new chancellor Richie sooner carry on
and deliver the budget he was planning
to before the outbreak or does he change
his plans
my understanding is very much the latter
as far as anyone at the Treasury is
concerned no budget has been rewritten
as much as this one it was were supposed
to happen last autumn then the election
was called it was rewritten afterwards
by Sajid Javid and his team then he
resigned then where she soon out came in
and rewrote it again and now coronavirus
has changed everything and all of those
plans were a big statement about
investments about the next few decades
they have been pared back and is fed it
starts to feel a bit more like an
emergency budget so while you can expect
it to deliver on some of those manifesto
promises more money for broadband for
roads a higher personal allowance and
overall of entrepreneurs relief the main
emphasis will not be on the future but
the right now and right now it's too
early to know what kind of economic
damage will be wrought by Cove at 19 but
with business nervous and markets
plunging this is a trial of fire for one
of the youngest least experienced
Chancellor's in British history Edie
Conway Sky News