This isn't just a downturn, it's an M&S downturn

When a brand as big as Marks & Spencer issues a profits warning you know something’s up.
That something looks like the economic downturn, accelerated by the credit crunch, finally hitting home.
It has hit Marks & Spencer in a big way, with today’s figures showing that even their hitherto bullet-proof food sales have dropped significantly over the past three months.
The reason – as I’m sure many of you will already know – is that people who previously wanted an M&S badge on their ready meal have now decided that something from Aldi, Lidl or Netto will do instead.
It isn’t just Marks that has laid the full impact of the downturn bare. Pendragon, the Notts-based car dealer group that owns the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone chains, has seen sales hit the skids in a big way in the past couple of months.
It's so bad that Pendragon boss Trevor Finn has called on Alistair Darling to take a long-hard look at fuel duty. And cut it.
As for housebuilders…Barratt is in deep trouble, Taylor Wimpey has shed 900 jobs, and if you’re looking for somewhere quiet and peaceful wander on to any new homes development.
It is during the next three months or so that we’ll find out for sure whether the downturn has the legs to turn into a recession (in other words, month after month of falling sales and rising job losses).
On balance, most economists still believe that despite all the gory headlines, and the particular problems of property and finance, the UK economy is still robust enough to tough it out.
But tough is the operative word – even a downturn won’t be pleasant.