At the same time, public sector strikes have impacted the number of people being able to visit our town and city centres during some of the most crucial trading periods of the year.

In the autumn statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the retail, hospitality and leisure scheme will be extended for a fifth year into 2024-25. This means businesses in these sectors in England will get 75% off their business rates bill. Unfortunately, NI businesses won’t receive the equivalent because there are no ministers in place to sign off the policy.

Rates are a tax on businesses, due before a single sale is made or a pound of profit is banked. The 75% relief for these most affected businesses would act as a lifeline at a time when the cost-of-living challenges are suppressing demand.

This is compounded by transport strikes arising from public pay disputes which cannot be resolved while the political stasis persists.

The Chancellor accepted that the cost of doing business in retail, hospitality and leisure businesses had become unsustainable and he responded. It’s equally challenging to do business in NI, yet our businesses are condemned to struggle on without the support that others receive.

In addition, publication of the latest NI Childcare Survey from Employers for Childcare highlighted another area where we fall further behind our neighbours.

Childcare is an area on which FSB has campaigned for a long time because we view it as essential economic infrastructure. Done well, it has the potential to release so many more people, primarily women, into the workforce, to train or to start their own business.

The survey found the average cost of full-time childcare is now over £10,000 per year, with a quarter of families surveyed paying more than £1,000 per month — directly impacting parents’ ability to work, and restricting workforce availability.

FSB has worked hard with politicians, civil servants and representatives from across the childcare sector to find welcome common ground. Unfortunately, no matter how successful we have been in building consensus, and the need for progress, nothing can be progressed without Executive ministers to sign it off.

Business owners in Northern Ireland are extraordinarily resilient, with energy and innovation in spades, but while some are flying high on the global stage others deserve support at a time when the chips are down, especially when similar businesses elsewhere have been recognised and helped. We should also be clear that this is not a case of hand-outs. A prosperous society needs a successful SME base.

FSB is under no illusions. We understand that even as problems around the Windsor Framework are resolved, having an Executive back in place won’t solve everything at once.

But what ministers can and will do, is start making the policy decisions that will have a positive impact for businesses, their people and society.

​Alan Lowry is the chair of the FSB NI’s policy unit