Judging by the comments and emails we have received following the Independent Business Awards 2010 evening, we could say that the event was successful in identifying and endorsing products and services widely considered as the best in our market. The Awards have also brought to the industry’s attention another group of truly outstanding retail professionals who stand out from the crowd not only on account of their business acumen but also the first-hand knowledge of their customers.

The anxiously anticipated Budget has just been revealed. It included an increase in VAT and a 25% cut to the public sector. Defending it, the Chancellor, George Osborne confirmed that it would instil confidence in the UK economy and create jobs in the future. He also said that he attempted to make it fair to all industries, evenly spreading the burden among small and large enterprises. ‘Adequate provisions’ for everyone were the intention.

Sony’s announcement of its new selective distribution strategy at the company’s dealer event in Scotland will no doubt ruffle a few feathers. From now onwards Sony intends to sell its products only through retail channels which will add value to them and will be able to give customers a good shopping experience.

It’s no coincidence that at the beginning of the new year, we are featuring two reports dealing with retail training. Firstly we look at what’s available from the leading electrical manufacturers in terms of product-related training.  Major brands which truly value independent channel are very flexible in delivering retail training, recognising dealers’ limitations in terms of time and staff availability. In addition to the showroom-based training, which is probably the best environment for familiarisation with ‘live’ products and their functions, they also conduct in-store training, not only during the day and in the evening, but also as breakfast sessions.

I recently read an interesting piece of research showing that coffee shop chains have grown by 47% across the UK during the last year. The fact that this growth took part during the deep recession indicates that it cannot be explained by our growing love of coffee alone. The Local Data Company, who commissioned the research, attributed this growth to an increasing number of business meetings being held over coffee rather than expensive meals. Also the mobile workforce commonly using wi-fi technology tend to do some work ‘on the go’ in coffee shops.

Recent research by Warwick Business School has revealed that large multinational companies which constantly encourage customer feedback via multiple sources, such as text and voice messages, feedback forms and various social media platforms, are unable to analyse it in a meaningful form, yet alone use it, due to the time constraints and sheer volume of data. What a waste, I thought, of people's time and effort.

During the recent Radio 4 broadcast about the anniversary of the financial crash of 2008 the BBC journalist asked the British banking authority what was the main lesson for the City from the collapse of the troubled investment bank Lehman Brothers. The answer was: the banking sector learnt that it had to look after the long term interest of its customers.

With unemployment hitting the 2.5 million mark, it is very difficult not to think about the recession even during the holiday season. Yet, some encouraging signs have started appearing on the generally gloomy horizon.

It is a coincidence that the news report about John Hutchinson's company Hutchinsons HiFi & Vision winning the Best Customer Service Award in this year's Independent Business Awards is published beside a letter from a customer of an electrical independent in Chelsea who closed his doors for ever last year. She deeply regrets the closure of the store on which she relied for years and for which she clearly is not going to find a substitute.

Although retail analysts are already reporting feeble signs of an economic recovery, in all probability there will be several months before the market reverts to normal trading conditions. Therefore understanding customers' purchasing behaviour in the recession and responding to it with suitable offers will remain a key business skill for weeks to come.

Perhaps the biggest complement to retra for its action and advice packed conference is the fact that next year's event is almost sold out already. Obviously the conference's delegates and speakers were so pleased with its outcome that they are asking for more.

The recent announcement of the Budget left the retail industry disappointed, which is perhaps what could have been expected at a time when the Government's priority is to deal with the global economic mess. The job creation measures, such as places on training schemes for everyone under the age of 25 out of work for 12 months, were welcome.