THERE MAY be a glimmer of light at the end of the recession tunnel for the firms of Macclesfield.
Experts in commerce dismiss the idea that green shoots of recovery are on the way, but say the ‘patient is stable’.
And the flood of empty town centre shops could be ebbing soon according to letting agents with new businesses moving in.
Bill Livesley, member of the Macclesfield Guild and Chamber of Trade, said: "If I was in a doctor’s surgery I would say the patient is stable – it’s not better than six months ago but it’s not worse. I would not say there are massive green shoots of improvement but certain things have come together. More traders have joined in with the Chamber of Trade and that can only be a good sign."
Jack Hallam, of Hallams Commercial on Churchill Way, has seen a rise in firms looking for new shops to let in Macclesfield town centre.
"The climate is definitely better than it was," said Jack. "People are looking. Two of our empty units on Chestergate are set to be filled and we have got interest in others."
He added: "But the money to purchase property just isn’t there like it was. There are people that want to buy but can’t because they can’t get the money right now."
Last week it was announced the EU had come out of recession with the leading economies of Germany and France officially growing. But the UK still lags behind as the only major European economy still in recession.
John Lamond, chief executive of Macclesfield Chamber of Commerce, added: "There’s, maybe, cautious optimism. I don’t think anybody wants to say there are green shoots of recovery, that’s a little premature.
"Feedback from our members is that they have had to negotiate shorter hours or wage freezes with redundancy a last option. There are positive signs from some but it’s still early days."
