There’s been a spot of bad weather today round The Grocer’s Gatwick command bunker, which means the magazine is running with something of a skeleton staff. With the airport shut, our fleet of news-sensing helicopters has also been grounded.
While this year’s second Big Freeze is great news for the media and bad news for commuters, it provides a useful fitness test for business.
Last week Tesco – for whom Richard Brasher issued a blood-curdling battle cry of festive intent – announced it was training hundreds of staff in operating snowploughs as part of a £1.3m investment to beat the harsh weather.
It’s an even bigger test for Asda, which has previously blamed poor results on a geographic footprint and demographic make-up that conspired to make it particularly susceptible to the snow.
You might raise an eyebrow at any business plan that starts to crumble as soon as it gets a bit parky out. But the Netto buy showed how desperate Asda was to put right those failings, even if the latest bout of extreme weather came too soon for that swoop to make a difference.
For The Grocer, meanwhile, it’s business as usual, with this weekend’s issue running the rule over which businesses are coping with the cold and who’s done a metaphorical Captain Oates and wandered off into the fog.
In fact, Saturday’s issue could be a bumper one – as the absence of functioning transport away from this part of the world means those of the team who’ve made it here will probably be staying the night.
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