With Covid restrictions further lifted, we can now all sit inside to enjoy dining out again - that’s if your brave enough as the Indian Covid variant is now presenting a new threat in the UK.
It’s good news for business as we see more of our established customers now returning because being able to seat people inside makes it more feasible to trade, although social distancing still limits the amount of tables you can have in close proximity and people sat at them - so for many it means they can still only serve a fraction of the clients they could pre Covid - and that’s a big hit on profitability and potential sales - so in the UK at least we are a long way away from how life used to be.
After a long and arduous search for a new employee, finally this week I had a new member of staff to be a production assistant for White Rose Coffee Roasters. Handling bagging, labelling, sealing and packing of White Rose Roasted Coffee they made a brilliant start and quickly worked everything out with very little need of extended training. It’s a massive bonus for me because the bagging of coffee was a massive time soak for me, plus they are eager and interested to learn about coffee and roasting coffee - so there is a good potential I can train them to take over coffee roasting when I’m not available - maybe I can take a holiday finally after many many years without one!
It’s been a sad week as well, because I said goodbye to reasonably priced French SUV after four years hard service. It’s meant over a six week period I have been slowly cleaning up the car for return - you have to give them back in pristine condition inside and out - and face extended charges to rectify any damage, missing original kit or if the inside looks like it’s been used as a squat for four years. So a few washes, some t-cut, metal polish on the trim, back to black spray on the plastic bumpers and trim plus a full can of Flash Dash polished into the interior trim (the heady smell of forest pine inside was starting to make me feel quite light headed) it could have passed as a showroom model. Add that to the fact I was on a 10,000 mile a year maximum lease (40,000 total) and only did 28,000 miles in it - and I’m sure the leasing company got far more in resale value then they expected, and after it cleared auction some used car dealer would have the tidiest 4 year old SUV they had ever seen.
Out with the old, and in with the new. While I procrastinated at length over whether to lease again or buy something outright, and hunted through electric vehicles options because it is of course the future - the actual task of deciding what will suit all your needs is a difficult one. Given moving boxes is a big part of my business and thus load space is essential, SUV makes the perfect van with comfort. Electric SUV’s are thin on the ground though, and while the Tesla Model Y might well have suited nicely - as Tesla still have not released it in the UK - and might not until mid 2022 at the earliest that was out as an option. Plus the Bitcoin pump and dump smarts a little, so that option might well be out for good.
So I went through quite a large range of mainstream car manufacturers Electric Vehicle options, and while it is improving constantly now the majority are poor adaptions of existing chassis used for petrol or diesel - this gives no optimisation for battery range and limits the amount of battery space they can fit in - so you either get very low range 160 to 200 mile options - or pay a bit more for slightly better but not stellar range. The biggest issue is price though, electric battery packs are so expensive - to keep the total vehicle price at a reasonable amount your average car owner would pay - they save on the built in features. Parking sensors disappear or are back only, climate control is dropped for basic heaters, simple dial dash display - it’s like going back in time.
After being used to the comfort of the Renault, all round parking sensors, digital dash, climate control - getting less features on a new car just does not work. So I ruled out pretty much alll the mid size Electric options, the Hyundai Kona has some nice features as an electric vehicle, and is quite reasonably priced - but was just a bit too small for my general needs.
Dumping electric I started to go through Hybrids, excellent fuel efficiency with real world range because a petrol engine can recharge the batteries for the electric drive motor. I quite liked the look of the Peugeot 5008 SUV - but the price was astronomical - it worked out more then a Tesla Model 3 which I considered even though it would not have the boot space I need. Anyway the Peugeot was right out, I don’t really consider them a premium brand so coming in at a BMW, Audi or Mercedes price - without the associated prestige is a big no for me.
In the end I went for the home of Hybrid, Toyota have always been leading the field on Hybrid technology and have totally revamped their RAV 4 - which used to be a little 4 wheel drive in a Land Rover style. In the last few years they revamped it to a premium SUV, I liked the styling and the Hybrid fuel consumption makes it one of the best mpg SUV’s on the market. It’s only on a 2 year lease, because hopefully more electric options will be available by then.
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