"Staycationers" give recession boost to Halford's

It might make a good exercise at a business school: design a recession-proof business. What would you think of? How about bicycles and camping gear? And throw in a car-maintenance service as well. You see, people still want to enjoy themselves, but for less money — and rather then buying that new car, they're more likely to want to repair the old one.

Well, this dream business is a reality, and it's performing exactly as the MBAs and business professors might expect: with a 24 percent profit increase this year, all during the worst recession for decades. The company is Halford's, one of the UK's oldest retailers. It has the largest bike operation in Britain, selling one in three bicycles in the country. It also sells lots of camping equipment. And it runs a big car-service operation.

Halford's seems to have exactly what the average Brit wants right now: holidays to take one's mind off things, but on a much tighter budget. The so-called "staycationers" — holiday-makers who stay at home — are driving the company's profits higher and higher as they cut back on expensive foreign travel in favour of a "home holiday". All good news for Halford's.