‘Resilient spirit’ of Bognor businesses in fight through challenging times

The historic rise in the cost of living has spelled bad news for businesses nationwide over the past few months.

A report released by the House of Commons library on Tuesday states that the cost of living has been steadily rising since early last year, claiming inflation reached its highest recorded level in 30 years in February 2022.

With belts getting tighter all round, that might mean fewer customers and higher prices for local business; a bleak prospect in the aftermath of Covid-19.

But business owners in Bognor Regis are showing their resilience and planning to confront the uncertainty.

“Everybody across the country, both personally and professionally, is going to be really considering how it will impact them, and that’s going to be equally true of every business in Bognor Regis,” explained Heather Allen, co-ordinator of the Bognor Regis Business Improvement District (BID).

“But I think the businesses have shown how incredibly resilient they are.

“We’ve seen that during the last few years.

“And I think they’ve all worked really hard to adapt and keep those cost increases as contained as possible, so it didn’t have a major impact on the community and the people who support them.

“So I think we’re going to see that resilient spirit rise again.”

Those words were echoed by Kristine Ayres, owner of Cake Heaven, which sells baked treats and ingredients from the London Road store.

“(The rise in the cost of living) has definitely affected us.

“The price has gone up on everything,” she said.

“It effects our footfall as well, because prices are up and wages aren’t going with them.

“But at the moment, I’m not worried. We’ll see what happens in the future. Right now, we’re trying to stay as positive as we can.”

“Prices have gone up minimally, but that’s mostly due to transport costs, and we have to absorb that somewhere,” added Anita Tilly, owner of Little Florist in Bedford Street.

“Footfall has gone down, but we’re doing well online so it evens out.

“In my opinion, there’s no point worrying. Whatever happens is whatever’s going to happen and there’s nothing you can do. You just have to go with the flow.”