While there was no snow at Woodstock – the festival took place during an extended summer of love – his remark has truly come into its own in the UK over the past few weeks, as ice, cold and crippling winter storms continue threaten economic disruption across the country.
From the point of view of most businesses, the cold snap has not exactly brought doom and gloom. Shoppers, companies and public sector organisations continue to part with their cash – and in many cases they are doing so more than ever.
In an impromptu survey conducted by The Herald, it appears that restaurants were worst hit by the snow and plunging temperatures.
David Maguire, chief executive of the Glasgow Restaurateurs Association, said: “I know of one restaurant in the centre of Glasgow that lost 700 diners a couple of days before Christmas. That’s a lot and it was entirely weather-related.
“But as long as people can get out, they come to eat – although post-Christmas is always a quiet time. That’s why we’re about to launch a Celtic Connections campaign, to encourage January dining.”
Nonetheless, among those which have found “a little bit of heaven” in the disaster area of sub-zero temperatures, sheet-ice roads and pavements, and chaos throughout the transport network, are the miners, suppliers and distributors of grit and salt.
In spite of the reluctance of most local authorities to divulge the source of their salt supplies, it turns out that the bulk of it comes from Ireland – and salt mining companies there have struck a rich seam this winter.
Glasgow City Council expects to spend around £4m this winter on keeping its roads clear – about £1m more than last year.
Edinburgh City Council refused to say how much it expects to spend this winter or from where it acquires its salt.
When The Herald asked, a spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council said: “It’s our prerogative to decide what information we want to give out.”
When it was suggested such information might be in the public interest, gently pointing out it was in fact taxpayers’ money being used to buy the salt, she insisted in the chilliest and most undemocratic of tones: “It’s for us to decide what we tell you.”
In fairness, the curtness of her response may be the best gauge yet of the level of complaints against Scottish local authorities regarding their response to the big chill and the heightened demand for salt.
One council official in Glasgow, who asked not to be named, said: “We buy the salt in the summer, which is exactly what we did last summer – but now that we need more, we’re buying it pretty much as soon as it’s mined. All the councils are doing the same, I believe.”
In another sign of heightened demand, one local authority reportedly grabbed 500 tons of cooking salt from a supermarket supplier, and officials from other councils were seen clearing the shelves of rock salt at Tesco.
While no figures were available yesterday, it is clearly boom time for salt suppliers, in spite of the difficulties in keeping apace with demand.
Meanwhile, the retail sector has also emerged unscathed from the wintery chaos. Department store chain John Lewis and clothing and houseware retailer Next unveiled buoyant Christmas sales reports –although they also cautioned that the Yule Tide cheer may evaporate in the months ahead.
Over the next few weeks, trading updates from Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury, JD Sports, Tesco, Debenhams, Game, HMV and Burberry will provide more clues on how the winter weather impacted sales – although the evidence so far is upbeat.
It seems that while snow and ice descended over the crucial holiday shopping season, winter storms kept some consumers away from stores on only a handful of days – while others tried to capitalise on weather with sales of warm boots and other winter gear.
House of Fraser, in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, sold out of the popular – not to mention expensive – Ugg sheepskin boots in its Boxing Day sale before lunch.
Richard Dodd, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “There is anecdotal evidence that suggests there were maybe five days when the number of shoppers were down because of the weather but overall, what retailers want is weather that is appropriate to the season, and that’s exactly what they are getting.
“In winter, clothing retailers will stock a lot of hats, gloves and warm coats, and food sellers will stock lots of soups, joints of meat and big pies, and it’s possible that this especially wintry winter has helped them.”
Asked if there had been any stockpiling and panic buying, Dodd said: “The thing that guarantees panic buying is a rumour about panic buying, and thankfully most consumers have been more sensible than that.”
Corner shops and convenience stores appear to have also done well – particularly when the roads are iced over.
Katie Mackie, public affairs adviser at the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, said: “There is no doubt that local convenience stores got a nice boost during the biggest snow falls. People just didn’t want to travel far.
“Some elderly customers didn’t come out at all, so that balanced it off a bit – although some of our members provide a home-delivery service, and there was certainly an increase there.”
Shane Brennan, public affairs director at the national Association of Convenience Stores, added: “This wintry weather has made people realise that convenience stores are not just a nice thing to have in the community, but that they are essential.”
And by all accounts the boom looks set to continue. Severe weather warnings remain in place across the UK.
