There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel... or indeed for the next two or three years.

Right now there’s almost no-one in the county who isn’t feeling the pinch, and some are doubtless feeling it in spades.

This is almost certainly the case for workers at one of Oxfordshire’s biggest employers, Bicester-based BGP publishing, which has just asked its employees to take up to a 20 per cent pay cut.

Understandably, some of them have contacted the Mail anonymously to vent their concerns.

One woman, who has family members working for the firm, said it is “an extremely worrying time”.

It must be, and one can only begin to imagine the stress it must be putting the workforce under.

At least in this instance there is some solace that, according to David Holland, chairman of the Launton Road company, the pay reductions will be across the board.

“That’s everybody,” he says, “We’re obviously doing this with sadness.

“It’s not the kind of thing staff jump up and down with a balloon about...”.

The company is at least not going into receivership.

And management says there are currently no plans for redundancies.

While that may not make the present situation any easier to swallow, it is, for the moment, almost certainly better than the alternative.

Still, good news leaks from the unlikeliest of places, as it now looks like a financial deal to secure the redevelopment of Oxford’s Westgate Centre is just around the corner.

In fact, assuming city councillors give it the go-ahead, building work could begin within two years.

Maybe, just maybe, this will mark the start of a turnaround in everybody’s fortunes...