The Times here in London greeted its readers (the majority of whom would have picked up the newspaper to read on their daily commute) with the rather cheerful news that 300,000 jobs were under threat as the economic slowdown in the US, and across Europe takes hold.

Hardly what you’re looking for on a Monday morning in one of the coldest August’s we here at Procurement Leaders can remember, but a rather sombre reflection of the difficult times procurement finds itself operating in.

The BCC also became the first major body to stick its neck out and predict that Britain would fall into a recession – again, hardly what you want to hear after a relaxing weekend.

The question here, of course, is whether those job cuts the harbingers of doom at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) predict, will effect procurement.

Our sense is that procurement, possibly more than any other business area, should get off fairly lightly as companies place greater emphasis on cost cutting and supply chain efficiencies.

Whether we’re right, and whether this trend is reflected across the rest of Europe, only time will tell.