• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Pressures on Spanish Small Businesses Set to Ease, Says Advoco Partner After a dreadful year for many British-owned small businesses in Spain, 2010 promises atleast some improvement as the main pressures of the recession ease, according to Costadel Sol-based accountant James Baker.“Recessionary effects have been particularly severe for Spanish small businesses owned by Brits and other foreigners. On top of the general fall in demand that businessesworldwide have suffered, my clients have been grappling with some extra economic problems”. Mr Baker pinpointed four main factors making this recession especially painful for his client-base in Southern Spain:-the fall in value of the pound against the Euro which has reduced the spending power of many customers, whether visitors from the UK or those that live on afixed income from Britain-the over-reliance on the property sector which has crashed spectacularly in Spain.Many small businesses have been caught in the fallout even if they are notdirectly affected in the same way as builders and estate agents-problems in the mortgage market. Rising numbers of defaults and repossessionshave seen many Brits forced to pack up and head home taking their custom withthem. Those that remain are often struggling under the burden of commitmentsthey took on during the boom but can no longer easily afford.-Many Brits here are not “in the system” and have earned their living informallymeaning that now they are not entitled to benefits or other state support to cushionthe blow of unemployment.Speaking from his office near Estepona, the UK-trained chartered accountant pointed totentative signs of a partial improvement in the outlook for 2010. “I don’t want to be seenas a cheerleader for a recovery that will more than likely be weak and constrained”, saidMr Baker, “but there are cautious grounds for optimism that at least conditions will ease”. New client enquiries for his Advoco law and accountancy practice showed some promising trends emerging in the final quarter of 2009:-demand for property conveyancing services increased suggesting that transactionlevels were rising in the sector even if prices were not-new business proposals received in areas like business hospitality and internetretailing-new enquiries from UK residents looking to become tax resident in Spainsuggesting that the flow of people between the two countries was tipping back towards Spain“I don’t have a crystal ball but I am quietly confident that 2010 will be the year that seesa partial recovery for the British business community in Spain. I am not wildly optimisticabout a rapid rebound in property prices or the wider Spanish economy [unemployment isnearly 4 million], but some indicators can hardly fail to look better next year. Mortgagerates reset once a year in Spain and this meant until recently many people were suffering
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...