It’s all kicking off. General election, Christmas, even the weather is making its presence felt, with forecasts of disruptive wind, rain and snow entering into the equation.

There’s clearly a lot going on – despite the fact that this would normally be a quieter time for businesses and for workers. With all of this in the mix and whatever the outcome of any of these events, this could well be one of the most eventful Decembers in recent times.

What’s more, with so many variables in the equation it’s almost impossible to accurately forecast where we will be and where we will be heading, from Friday. Hopefully, the negative associations with that date will prove insignificant when we look back on it.

Superstitions aside, persistent uncertainty has perhaps been the most damaging aspect of current times. After all, people given good news can celebrate and capitalise upon it. People given bad news can, generally, make provision and prepare themselves for it.

However no news, or constant not-knowing, makes neither of these planning scenarios possible. That’s why business confidence in general and small business confidence in particular, has been ground down to low levels for way too long.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring a breakthrough, by providing a decisive result and some much-needed clarity about the future direction of travel and the challenges and opportunities arising. At the end of the day, Politicians of all persuasions have been making bold statements about their support for small businesses, investment in public services and their plans to improve physical and digital infrastructure.

That’s all well and good. However, whichever party is in power this Friday, their fine words delivered in campaigning must quickly translate into decisive actions when in power.

For the country to prosper they must enable Worcestershire – and everywhere in the UK – to be the best place to set up and grow a business.