With government expenditure falling and unemployment on the increase there will be less money in people’s pockets and less to spend in the shops. It can only get worse when VAT goes up to 20pc in the new year.

There’s no point trying to guess whether sales are going to fall by 1pc, 6pc, or somewhere in between – just plan on the basis that things will be bad and you won’t be disappointed.

Don’t wait for sales to drop, take action now. Watch your cash flow like a hawk, look at your bank balance every day – this is not a good time to give your bank manager any surprises.

Now is the time to negotiate hard and take tough decisions. You can’t afford to pay passengers e_SEnD root out the poor performers and encourage them to work for someone else. Call an end to any unprofitable projects and close branches that don’t make any money.

No one can be sure how bad things will be in 12 months, all you can do is to take a prudent approach and keep your fingers crossed.

Q Why do you not have a female director on your main board of directors? Would not a specialist retailer, like Mary Portas, bring value to your organisation?

A We may not have any women on our main board but they are well represented on the operating boards of our two trading companies. This should not be seen as evidence of a Timpson glass ceiling.

Our core shoe repair business has always attracted a high proportion of male recruits and with a policy of promoting from within it is hardly surprising that many of the senior management positions are filled by men.

Our other retail chain, Max Spielmann, is the opposite, a business dominated by women, with women supplying most of the management. Again it is not surprising that shops dealing with passport photos and portraits attract women workers.

We simply appoint the best person for each job, a principle that would be lost if we were required to have quotas. Picking the right people is one of the secrets of our success. Proportional representation should be left to the politicians – it is not the right way to appoint a winning team.

Mary Portas wrote in The Daily Telegraph about our shop in Regent Street London but she only gave us 6/10. She thought I could improve my marketing, which I no doubt can, but it is difficult for a mainstream retailer to understand shoe repairs and key cutting.

Running our sort of service business is very different from selling merchandise such as clothes, food or furniture. It is all about people, picking the right personalities and training them how to do the range of jobs we offer. When it comes to female advice at the highest level I will continue to rely on my wife, Alex.

Q I can understand there are many reasons for people to continue working beyond the current retirement ages. However, it is not realistic in my business because of the job’s physical demands. How can I keep my business competitive if legislation forces me to retain employees who can no longer maintain performance standards through no fault of their own?

A Although the law has changed there is still a provision for legally dismissing someone because of capability – it is accepted that some physical jobs are more difficult to do as you approach 70. However, it will be much more difficult to establish incapability for an office worker.

We have plenty of people who work with us well beyond retirement age but they have, so far, been on an annual contract so that a retirement date can be discussed and agreed without embarrassment. We have always been able to use common sense, something lacking in a legal framework. I fear the new law will lead to many long, hard-working careers ending in tears. In striving to avoid discrimination, legislators appear to have forgotten that individuals need individual consideration.

It will be some time before case law clarifies the new rules, in the meantime the HR community will demand that we follow the guidance notes presented at breakfast seminars all over the country by employment lawyers and consultants. We will have to work hard to stick to common sense.

We will continue to have regular discussions with colleagues who are near or beyond the usual retirement age because we want to do the best for them, the company and their colleagues. When it is time for them to go we want to part as friends.