From: Timmy Ijie
Subject: Business and the Economic Environment
Date: 30/09/2014
Unit 38: Business & the Economic Environment
P1 & D1
0.1 Introduction
In this assignment I will be explaining the effects of changes in the economic environment for Berendsen Plc. I will then go on to analyse the effects of these changes and give pros and cons to them as well as making a recommendation that would help the company and making a conclusion. This report will also cover the definition of ‘economic’ and the business cycle.
2.0 Berendsen Plc – An Introduction (P1)
Berendsen Plc. is a leading provider of textile maintenance services based in Britain. It provides services in both the UK and Europe. It is organised into three main business lines, that being ‘workwear’, ‘facility’ and ‘linen’ and also have more than 100 years of experience in which they have owned brands such as Berendsen, Sunlight and Spring Grove. With it being the leading provider of textile maintenance services, a change in the economy would definitely show its effects on Berendsen.
3.0 Business Cycle
The business cycle is a series of economic expansion and contraction in the environment. These series consist of four events. They are, ‘Boom’, ‘Slowdown’, ‘Recovery’ and ‘Recession’.
The above diagram illustrates the structure in which these economic events take place (boom being economic uprise and recession the economic downfall).
3.1 Boom (Growth) stage of the business cycle
An economic boom is usually referred to as the growth stage in the economy. It is when companies’ are doing well due to high demand in products and services causing wages to rise. For example, this happened during the 1920s in America where at this point jobs were easy to find and was better paid than before. With wages going up, people could now afford goods and services they couldn’t before. The economy was growing fast. For instance, America’s gross national product (GNP) grew from $78 billion to $103