First up, today is the final day that we'll be using our yellow and blue, Ukrainian flag masthead (above).

April has seen Service Dealer run our Ukrainian Initiative, where throughout the month 100% of new advertising revenue generated across all digital titles (Service Dealer, TurfPro and Garden Trader), has all been donated to the British Red Cross - who are part of the Disasters Emergency Committee - as well as to some locally-based charities who are doing amazing aid work (Project Linus UK and Trowbridge Homes For Ukraine).

You can watch owner Duncan Murray-Clarke thank all who contributed to the initiative and explain what has been going on, as the magazine reveals the excellent total raised thanks to the generosity of our industry friends.

I'd like to add my thanks to this too and say just how heartening it is to be part of an industry that alongside its serious business activities, displays its caring side so often and so clearly. We've heard over the past few weeks how many players in our sector have instigated their own considerable charitable efforts geared towards helping the Ukrainian people (here and here for example). It's both admirable and genuinely touching that peers and colleagues are so willing to wholeheartedly support such worthy causes.

And we have yet another example of this altruism today in our news, with Cobra's tremendous new campaign raising awareness around mental health issues as well as funds for the charity Mind. Any endeavour which promotes looking out for our family, friends and colleagues in this time of ever greater stresses and anxieties should be applauded. With world events such as the war in Ukraine and the pandemic adding to the perennial worries that life and work throw at us, thinking of how others are coping, and being aware that there are professionals to turn to if help is required, is incredibly important.

Cost of living crisis

An acute stress that many will be feeling currently, is of course the much discussed cost of living crisis. Dealers will be feeling it both in their pockets with the increases in utility bills etc and perhaps in the spending habits of their customers too. This is something we'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on today.

The Office Of National Statistics published a report this week entitled The rising cost of living and its impact on individuals in Great Britain: November 2021 to March 2022. A lengthy piece, it may be of interest to have a read through to consider the analysis they've carried out on how different groups in the population have been affected by the increase in their costs of living.

If you haven't got time to go through the whole thing, I did read a shrewd quote summing up the analysis from Dr Jackie Mulligan who is an expert on the government’s High Streets Task Force and founder of the local shopping platform, Shopappy. She said, "The fact that nearly a quarter of households are now struggling to pay their usual household bills, and four in ten their energy bills, is nothing short of a national emergency. Sadly, it looks like the current inflation spiral still has a long way to go yet and the fallout could be immense."

She went to say, "The current level of inflation is a double whammy for the family businesses that line the UK's high streets. They're being hit in the tills and in their own pockets at the exact same time."

'National emergency' is a strong phrase, but one that it feels difficult to argue against.

I've heard manufacturers in our sector before not exactly say that the outdoor power equipment that dealers sell is recession-proof, but that as it's less of a lifestyle or luxury purchase and more of an essential or emergency buy, demand is never too fragile. The grass always grows. Food always requires cultivating. Therefore customer activity might traditionally have been considered as less sensitive to societal influences as other retail may be.

But you tell me? Have you noticed changes in customer spending in your dealership over the past couple of months? Clearly everyone is still doing their best to cope with the stocking problems, but do you feel you're noticing any trends above and beyond that, due to customers feeling the pinch? Or is it indeed a truism that the prevailing economic situation doesn't hold too great a sway over sales in this market?

I spoke to a dealer yesterday who told me with this financial crisis, the situation with consumer demand certainly feels worse compared to other years. They said for example, they were seeing a lot more repair work being chosen by customers who would ordinarily opt to buy new. They put this down to consumer confidence having been severely shaken by world events combined with the unknown of how bad the cost of living crisis might become for their household finances.

Does this sound familiar to your dealership? It would be interesting to hear dealers' takes on the situation today. Are you noticing unusual or changed customer behaviour? 

Please have your say in the comments below.