Small firms still prospering

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Over the past year, the BBC News Website has followed 10 small firms from across the UK to see how they coped with the recession.

Each month they gave us an update of how they were getting on.

Despite a few struggles along the way, all are still prospering. And in most cases, they proved very resilient to the economic headwinds.

With figures last month showing that the UK exited recession in the final quarter of 2009, here we publish their final monthly updates.

But far from saying goodbye to the companies in question, we will now be returning to them on a quarterly basis, to measure the impact of the slowly improving economy.

DAVID GROOCOCK, ST MAUR HOTEL OWNER

David Groocock runs the St Maur Hotel on the Isle of Wight, which has an annual turnover of £200,000 and employs six people.

He is a member of the local chamber of commerce and the chairman of the island's tourist board.

DAVID'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 9 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - What will happen after the general election - tough choices will have to be made

"Another year, another decade, and out of recession it seems.

However, I must admit that I was not affected at all last year. In fact, the hotel did rather well, with occupancy rates 8% better than 2008.

So what does 2010 propose to do? The early indications are good, with occupancy up 10% on last January, despite the awful weather at the beginning of the month.

Advance bookings are still way ahead of this time last year, still around 70% would you believe. This will reduce over time as we won't be able to fit people in.

Anyway, I am happy with the way things are progressing so far."

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CARL BRADLEY, OWNER, FUSION SYSTEMS

Carl Bradley runs a computer shop with his wife in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

CARL'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 7 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - that putting business rates up doesn't kill off the High Street

He employs three people and the business has an annual turnover of £540,000.

"We had a great start to 2010 - during the first few days takings were three times higher than last year.

Then the snow arrived, killing trade stone dead, and deliveries could not get through. This undid the great start.

When the snow melted we could not catch up, making January £15,000 down on last year."

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MARK STIMSON, BPL SOLICITORS DIRECTOR

Mark Stimson is a director at BPL Solicitors in Dorchester, Dorset, which specialises in property law.

MARK'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 7 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - availability of mortgage products

The firm has an annual turnover of £2.5m and there are just under 40 employees.

"New case instructions were up by 29% on January of last year.

The remortgage side of the business also continues to grow strongly, although this may be as a result of people taking advantage of the current interest rates before they go up later in the year as is anticipated.

A break-even month is considerably better than the start to last year, and hopefully this continues the encouraging trend that started back in November.

We are still concerned that the lack of activity in the market may mean that the trend may reverse."

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JAMES STEWART, JAMES STEWART AND SONS CLOCKS

James makes and sells high-end grandfather and grandmother clocks in Armagh, Northern Ireland.

He employs five people and the clock-making company has an annual turnover of £180,000.

JAMES' JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 9 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - none

The clocks retail from £1,660 to £10,000.

"What a good start to 2010 - January has been a great month for us. Sales are better than expected, as are inquiries.

January can be a slow month, but this year we have been busier than any January for a long time.

Even sales in the US are increasing. We have also made sales to retailer customers that we have not done business with for several years. This is very encouraging.

I just wish we could put our finger on exactly what is pushing sales and inquiries up, as we have not been advertising recently.

With our product, we find that people will take time to research and study before making the purchase, so the recent boost in sales may be down to groundwork and advertising in the past.

We hope that this interest in our clocks continues in the coming months and throughout the year."

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LOUISA SHEPPY, OWNER, SHEPPY'S CIDER

Louisa Sheppy runs Sheppy's Cider, a family-owned Somerset cider-maker, with her husband David.

LOUISA'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 7 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - people's continuing spending power

It now supplies most supermarkets in the South West, and some nationally, but remains a small producer in the wider cider industry.

The Sheppys also run their own farm, specialising in Old English Longhorn cattle.

"The snow in early January hampered things for a week or so, but, as the month is traditionally very quiet after Christmas, the inconvenience was manageable.

The delay to a good start on our annual pruning will never quite be caught up with, but this is now well under way. With 55 acres to get round, we never quite seem to do as much as we plan.

The bottling machinery has been having an annual strip-down, and the vats and cellars have all been getting a lick of paint. Planning meetings have engaged much of our time.

We are still waiting with nervous interest to hear news of the government's plans for duty on ciders. As producers of traditional naturally-fermented ciders we do feel vulnerable to any change in duty which will put our ciders into a high duty band."

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STEVE VALENTINE, GWYNEDD CONFECTIONERS

Steve Valentine runs a confectionery factory that produces a range of chocolate and fudge products, as well as rock and sweets sourced from the local area.

STEVE'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 8 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - increase in utility bills and business rates.

It is based in Gwynedd in Wales.

"The start of 2010 has been quite encouraging.

However, we are still not taking things for granted and need to work hard throughout the year. January has been busy with trade shows and the fruits of our labour will show in February and March.

Regarding the wider economy, the official figures may show that the UK is out of a recession, but many retailers are still suffering - we are still hearing of shops closing."

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HARRY MURRAY, HMS JOINERY

Harry Murray runs a manufacturing company that makes wooden staircases and other architectural features in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

Now employing 22 people, HMS Joinery has an annual turnover of £1.7m.

HARRY'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 5 out of 10. Down from 6/10 in DecemberKey current concern - more support needed from banks and the government to support small firms

"The start of a new year hasn't been kind to us.

Despite spending the last six months or more trying and succeeding to secure long-term contracts, again everything is against us.

If it isn't the weather that's holding the building process up, it's the lack of help from all quarters.

It's as if the powers that be don't want you to succeed."

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LEO WHITE, HYDRANT DESIGN

Leo White runs a design company in Cumbria.

He employs five members of staff, and has an annual turnover of about £300,000.

LEO'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 8 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - Achieving a profitable, balanced and happy team.

Hydrant has 320 clients ranging from micro-businesses to local authorities.

"2010 has started well, with a definite feeling of cautious optimism.

We've seen the usual flurry of new year project enquiries - interestingly several of these have been from well-funded start-ups, something we've seen less of over the previous year.

We're still cautious about work for the public sector, as budgets have been cut for many areas and look like they will remain so for years to come.

However, we're still confident that our use of 'open source' tools, and an efficient business style, mean we are one of a new breed of design and communication agencies that are best-suited to provide best value for money.

My plans for this year focus mainly around work-life balance and enjoying the time I and my staff spend at work.

I'm spending more time with my children and my wife who is expecting our third child in June.

Last year felt like very hard work for everyone trying to expand the company in tough times.

Whilst I'm not at all complacent, it's fair to say that I've realised some factors are beyond anyone's control, so simply working harder to compensate isn't always the best approach."

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MIKE GRANT, ISLAND LEISURE

Mike Grant runs a residential and commercial timber lodge manufacturer in Perth in central Scotland.

MIKE'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 7 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - maintain our current level of production

There are 21 people employed in the company, which has an annual turnover of £2m and produces about 30 lodges a year.

"January tends to be a slower month with regard to sales, which was probably not helped this year by the weather.

This has also hindered the transportation from our works to sites of some completed units.

Our focus at the moment is the Outdoor and Leisure Show at the SECC in Glasgow, where we are currently exhibiting a show home.

The first day of the show, which is attended predominantly by trade customers, proved to be a success with the feedback we were getting.

The decision to demonstrate a varied range of available options was well received by both the trade and public alike, and it gave them the opportunity to compare our product alongside the competition, which can only work in our favour.

The general mood at the show is positive, with many predicting a steady increase in the number of people booking up for holidays in the UK this year instead of going abroad.

There are a number of factors dictating this, with the main ones being cost and added hassle with airport travel due to increased security measures."

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JENNY LEES, OWNER, DENTANURSE

Jenny Lees produces dental products for dentists and the public from her base in Preston-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

JENNY'S JANUARY REVIEW Confidence in the business - 8.5 out of 10. No change from DecemberKey current concern - we are in the EU, which has protective laws for small companies and strict rules as to payment terms, so why doesn't the government implement them?

She and her husband employ five people at the company, which has an annual turnover of between £300,000 and £400,000.

They run their firm alongside their separate business - a stud farm.

"The January snows did not interfere with trade at Dentanurse.

We had interest in our products from as far afield as Australia and South Africa and the Middle East.

An enquiry from Spain for the Dentanurse First Aid Kit for Teeth turned out to be from the doctor of the Barcelona round-the-world yacht race team, so we sent them eight kits for free.

I am told that there are two things you don't want at sea and they are toothache and appendicitis. I get seasick so I wont be putting that to the test."