Two weeks ago, you’d think that KFC was the only business in trouble after the #ChickenCrisis but this week thousands and thousands of businesses we’re affected by nearly 50 cm of snow.
It was a snow day for all as employees worked from home and many schools were cancelled.
Here at the Escapade office we gathered at lunch for a stroll in the snow, a mini snowball fight and of course the snow was the perfect excuse to get some chips!
The people of the UK dug out their driveways and braved the snow to grab the essentials for the three day storm whereas in our case, chocolate was a key priority!
However, it’s snow joke! The Guardian reported that the ‘Beast from the East’ could have cost the UK economy over one billion pounds per day, which is the worst financial impact since the snow storm just before Christmas in 2010.
Whereas in reality, this estimation may not be exactly the case as the people of the UK boosted their heating, splashed out on emergency food supplies and the gritters were out on the roads.
Although, the BBC reported that the biggest snowball hit was to sectors such as retailing and construction, potentially halving the GDP growth for the first quarter.
This is no surprise as shoppers stayed at home, wrapped up warm and checked out online, whilst some construction projects were also forced to take a couple of days off. (Imagine trying to build around this!)
But now that the snow is gone, we’ve got our fingers crossed for some sunnier weather. There is always hope right?
Many absolutely amazing nurses and doctors from the NHS did not take the day off but instead trekked through the snow to get to hospitals, including one incredible surgeon who walked for nearly three hours to operate on a patient.
The extreme weather also affected train companies and their passengers and in particular the water industry as over 12,000 households were without water.
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