It’s all too easy to cry wolf: the economy always looks more fragile that it really is, and prophecies of doom make the best digital clickbait. Every so often, however, even the permabears get it right. We are now in one of those moments: the British economy, I’m afraid to say, isn’t in a good way. If it had lights, they would be flashing bright red.

Something has gone very wrong. The great growth boom of the past few years is grinding to a halt, and some companies and sectors are starting to feel the pain. Some people are starting to lose their jobs, not because their companies have made errors or because their sector is being revolutionised by the internet, but because the overall economy, demand, exports and investments are slowing. Britain is not alone in this slowdown, of course, but that won’t make it any less painful if it were to continue.

The reality is that while we are not quite in recession yet, British economic developments are grim, wherever one looks. In the last month to six weeks, I have been told by three prominent entrepreneurs that they thought that we stumbled without realising it into a recession.