Small businesses feeling the pinch in credit crunch blitz

Published Date: 09 October 2008 FROM department stores to street traders, everyone is getting ready for the big squeeze. And as tens of thousands of city finance workers wait anxiously for the latest twist in the current credit crunch saga, the fate of Edinburgh institutions like HBoS and RBS will reverberate around the city. A new city council report today highlights the fact that 53,000 jobs in Edinburgh are reliant on the financial sector – in addition to the 31,000 people directly employed by the Capital's financial heavyweights. The report, compiled by the city's economic development department, also warns that Edinburgh must reduce its reliance on bank business if it is to survive the crunch. One person who knows only too well the value of the bank worker's pound is Tony Flynn, owner of Scooby's sandwich bar on... [read full story]