A recent conversation with a printing company owner threw up the following disturbing nugget.

Said print boss had found himself sitting next to someone with high-up connections at the Bank of England at an event, and the conversation soon turned to pre-packs.

PB explained that pre-packs were not proving to be of much benefit to this industry (nor, I imagine any other), rather the opposite in fact being as open to abuse as they clearly are.

BoE chap professed himself amazed, being of the opinion that pre-packs had to be a Good Thing because they were saving jobs. When PB pointed out to him that the number of saved jobs at the failed co was likely enough eclipsed by those that would be lost at its creditors, never mind the fact that failed co would probably fail again anyway (doubtless after causing further damage to the market), BoE man was stunned. "We never thought of that. We really thought we were saving jobs," he said.

Terrifying, eh? That our leaders can be so disconnected with the way the legislation they craft is actually enacted in the real world (the real world where there is a superabundance of morally bankrupt, unethical individuals who care not if they ride roughshod over others) is truly extraordinary.

Wouldn't it be great if a posse of SME business owners could meet with fresh business secretary Vince Cable to tell him exactly how things really are at the sharp end?

It remains a brutal reality that weak, failing companies need to close and stay closed for there to be any hope of an industry peopled by strong, well-run businesses that will be able to offer lasting, secure employment. And the current legislation clearly isn't working.