The Government now seems confident that we, as a country, can ride out the latest wave of Covid without the need for further restrictions.

The question is, are they riding the same surfboard as the rest of the country?

As the business sector heads into what is traditionally the quietest time of the year, we see infections soar to an all time record for the UK.

Despite all the suspicions lurking around a pre-Christmas then a pre-new year’s lockdown, it now appears we can breathe (if we haven’t already got Covid) a sigh of relief on that front.

The focus on following the science appears to have been abandoned and replaced with can the NHS can cope? With many NHS trusts reporting critical incidents, this may soon be a rhetorical question.

Hitting the hospitality sector hard just before Christmas, the Omicron variant has left many facing a bleak future if they can manage to survive, and the uncertainty of the whole situation has left many businesses not knowing how far ahead to plan, how much stock to order, how to prepare for seasonal staff etc, especially if we’re faced with another sudden change of direction!

If you run retail premises, you may have suffered a tailing off of trade just before Christmas, which can to a degree be aimed at the introduction of plan B, which requires the wearing of facemasks in shops, which I am sure puts people off venturing in unless they have a specific requirement.

Running retail premises, you stayed open until heaven knows what time on Christmas Eve! well done you for persevering.

I’m sure when we all re-opened earlier this year, we thought that this whole situation was going to become a thing of the past and here we are again dealing with more uncertainty than before. Although many would argue, and I for one wouldn’t disagree, the risk to our health appears to be substantially reduced, but what about the risk to our businesses?

And throughout all the drama and the colossal number of people unable to work due to infections and the subsequent isolation, we battle on and continue to march down the road of business, and in a few years’ time when this is all over and medals are being handed out, we may just be in line.