The 'Real' Housewives of Cheshire fume over Rachel Reeves' Budget

Prestbury, Alderley Edge and Wilmslow are sometimes referred to as Cheshire’s ‘Golden Triangle’ and to those with a penchant for reality TV the residents of these villages may be perceived alongside the likes of the ‘Real Housewives of Cheshire’ where boozy lunches, hair appointments and flashy motors garnish their flamboyant lifestyles.

In reality though, the "REAL Housewives of Cheshire" are a formidable team of business owners who are fighting hard and adapting to the pressures of running their own companies.

Penny Davis runs a number of businesses in Cheshire but is less than impressed by what she considers to be a lack of support from the government, she told LBC: "I've got a skincare brand, I've got a clinic that we do aesthetics and permanent makeup.

"It feels tough at the moment. It feels not as much fun. I am somebody who likes to enjoy everything that I do. I've noticed that even just going out on an evening, a lot of the bars and pubs are closing now on a Monday and Tuesday.

"They're not even open. Our local pub, that was always thriving, you know, it closes at 7pm now on a Monday and Tuesday because they just can't justify paying staff.

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Julie Harrison is a friend of Penny’s and, with her husband, runs a successful manufacturing business, she told LBC: "It's really hard to make money now. I reckon nowadays it's harder to make money than it ever has been, and our priority is paying our people. We come last, the owners of the business come last.

“We've just started using agency staff. So, that has really had an impact because you do want people to go into work and stay with you for a number of years, you don't want to be doing short term, but we just can't give that full commitment financially at the moment.

Penny admits there has, in the past, been a battle to keep up appearances, she said: “There would be a real perception of trying to project success. I feel like the veil has been lifted now. You would have blustered through, projected, spent the money and maybe overspent to do it, but now I think there's much more an acceptance that we've got to get through this next few years. This government is only interested in punishing aspirational people. That is how it feels.

“We've just let our premises go. Our overheads were just getting out of control. Five years ago, we wouldn't have even considered moving to a smaller place, but even those really affluent customers that we deal with have been much more cautious about the extra spending. So, there's a real feeling of austerity across the board. It just isn't what it used to be.

“You do not want to project that your business is in trouble. And again, previously that would have been unheard of”

Within these leafy suburbs there are conversations about leaving Britain.

"One of my friends has just moved to Dubai”, Penny said. “Another one went last month. Really great, young, aspirational, entrepreneurial people who earn and have created a lot of wealth, but by their own hands, they've gone now. They've gone to the Emirates, like that's it.

I think if my business hadn't been so decimated by Covid and I had the money, I'd be right behind them. Although I fancy Texas myself."

Julie added: "I think if I had the money. If we had the money, we'd be out of here, without a doubt, it all comes down to money."

The reality for a lot of wealthy business owners is their money is tied up in assets, and the assumption that they have ‘broad shoulders’ is not accurate.

"I wish they would look at maybe supporting us in small business as opposed to punishing us”, Julie said.

"It just makes life really difficult and it impacts on all elements of your life, your personal life. You stop doing some of the things you enjoy doing. Why are you working then? Why are you working for yourself? You may as well go and give work to somebody else and give them the heartache as opposed to having it yourself, because that's what it feels like."

Penny added: "I know it's champagne problems but we didn't go on holiday abroad last year. We just did a couple of mini breaks where we could. Whereas previously we, you know, because you work for yourself, you need a couple of decent long breaks a year. It was business or holiday.

The introduction of a ‘Mansion Tax’ feels like another swing of the axe by the Chancellor, Penny told LBC: “To impose an annual tax on people just for where they live is the worst kind of socialism. It doesn't work because everybody just goes to the lowest common denominator. You know, the amount of times when people go, "why don't you just, you know, sell your house and rent?”, and to me that is unthinkable because I was brought up to own my home."

Julie feels the same, she said: "It's not fair, is it? It just gives the wrong message. You want the young people of this country to think, I want to buy my own house, I want to have my own business, I want to invest in this country, I want to invest in people. That's what you want the message to be. The message is not that. The message at the moment is, the better you do, the more you'll get beaten down for that. That's what it feels like.

“We might be hit by that mansion tax. not that we have a mansion, but we've then got to find extra money and where is that going to come from? It's just the message all the time that if you do well and you work hard, it's not being rewarded, it's like, oh, okay, so we're going to give you more taxes to pay. So that's really frustrating."

The reality is both Penny and Julie have had to adjust their lifestyles to manage.

“For us it's holidays”, Penny said. “We always felt that it was important to take a break. And we just haven't had the type of holidays. The other thing is we would eat out a lot. Again, when you are busy and you're working hard, you know, you don't really want to be getting back and cooking. And we would often do lunches at least once or twice a week. We'd go out for dinner and get a bottle of wine and we'd relax and, you know, we'd go out more and we just don't. We don't. And actually, even getting a takeaway these days is quite expensive."

Julie said: "I think I'm more savvy with shopping in general. Food shopping, I'm looking at. I'm looking for the bargains now. And I will look. I'll go to the likes of Aldi. I'm looking. And research, you know, where's the best place to go to save money, because we haven't got the same level of money that we used to have, so you need to be more savvy about those things. And you meant, you know, you mentioned a nice bottle of water wine. Yeah, I found a great bottle of wine for seven quid, now, as opposed to my £20 bottle of wine. But you know what, it tastes great so I'm not bothered."