James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
Jeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe » 
Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » Credit crunch lunches for ã3.95, buyers naming their price for unwanted properties, crazy cashback deals on mobile phones and cars, and an interest rate which could drop to as low as zero.
In this post-apocalyptic era of the great crash of 2008, the consumer is king.
With Christmas around the corner, savvy buyers are taking advantage of retailers' desperation to get cash moving through the tills again.
Middlesbrough's high street is littered with massively discounted offers to tempt cash-strapped consumers.
The price of Race for Furniture's Stamford Lift & Rise Recliner chair has been slashed in half to ã499, while buyers can pick up a Comfi Swivel Chair & Stool - at one time ã499 - for a cool ã99.
Meanwhile, retail outlet Psyche is selling half-price Twenty 8 Twelve skinny jeans for ã70 and a Junk De Luxe waffle cardigan for ã42.50.
In tough trading conditions, retailers are having to cut their cloth accordingly but will it be sufficient to avoid one of the worst festive trading periods in living memory?
Early signs are not good. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), October's total sales were 0.1% lower than the same month last year - the first year-on-year fall since April 2005.
But the good news for retailers is that people still need to eat, wear clothes, get showered and drive to work. The demand is still there, even if the volume of disposable income is not.
Retailing novices should take a leaf out of Justin King's book. The CEO of Sainsbury has transformed a loss-making business into one which reported sales up 7.6% to ã10.7bn in the half year to October 4.
From someone who chooses Sainsbury to serve his weekly shopping needs, I have seen an explosion of non-food products and a cater-for-all-needs approach which incorporates the upmarket Taste the Difference meals to own-branded Basics products. Pleasingly for King - the aisles are always gridlocked by trollies and busy shoppers.
While bargain prices are a consumer's festive dream, King has proved savvy retailers should be clinking the cash this Christmas.
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