I've made a note in my diary for today: according to the official definition of these things, the UK recession ended exactly one year ago.

How timely, given yesterday's news about the surprise contraction in the economy. What with this, rising inflation, spiralling fuel and food prices, ongoing problems with banks lending to SMEs...  on that thorny topic it's more than two years since then-prime minister Gordon Brown said the government would "insist" on bank credit lines being extended to small business on a normal basis. The new government was still bleating on about the same thing last week.

I was feeling depressed and then I heard someone on the radio this morning quoting Mervyn King, who gave a speech last night where he said we were facing "the longest decline in take-home pay since the 1920s". Then I felt really depressed.

All in all it's beginning to feel like Groundhog Day, but with fewer laughs.

Having said that, I was buoyed by speaking to a variety of print business bosses, at various different sizes and types of company, who all reported quiet satisfaction with their 2010 performance and encouraging order books for Q1 2011.

I'm hoping these companies are not coincidental exceptions, and that well-run printcos who've emerged from the economic storms of the past couple of years are strong enough to withstand more turbulence.