The Credit Crunch - Tech Services

Britain is facing "arguably the worst" economic downturn in 60 years which will be "more profound and long-lasting" than people had expected, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, tells the Guardian today.

Reports of doom and gloom are everywhere. Every time you switch on a TV, web connection or pickup a newspaper tales of doom and woe abound.

Despite this my business for one seems totally unaffected. Our turnover has actually doubled over the last 6 months. I started to think that, in these hard times, maybe people are using new technologies to cut costs. Maybe all the problems retailers are facing on the High Street are not just be part of the economic cycle but instead because people are increasingly using the Internet instead of the High Street. This was illustrated by a shopping trip that I went on yesterday. My friend and I were doing some window shopping in some expensive shops in West London. At one point my friend stopped to look at one item which he really liked. He asked the shop assistant a series of searching questions and was happy with the answers. Later on I asked him if he was going to buy the item. He said yes. I suggested that I go and help him collect it from the shop. At this point he burst out laughing. Why would I do that, it will be cheaper on the Internet, he said.

It seems that High Street shops with their high rent and high staff costs must operate at a massive disadvantage to online businesses, who do not in many cases even have to hold stock. It seems to me that spending on IT and Internet services is very robust and I do not see any reason why that should not continue. What do you think?