It seems we didn't have to wait long for the first effects of the so-called Spending Review to start having effect on Guildford did we?
Less than a week after the an*****ments that local authority budgets will have to be cut by 25% Guildford's John Dennis Coachbuilders -the country's biggest fire engine manufacturer- is going to make about 45 shop floor workers and office staff redundant at the end of November.
The company said it had been forced to scale back from making 150 fire engines a year to 100.
It said many local authorities had put new orders for fire engines on hold during uncertainty about spending cuts.
Alan McClafferty, managing director of JDC, explained that it was almost certain the budget for new fire engines would be affected.
"Making redundancies is not a decision we have taken lightly and we have held off from taking this action for as long as possible," he said.
"However, the reality is that our customer base is local authorities and the doubt over how much their budget may be cut has severely impacted JDC's business.
"It is not that we are losing lots of orders to our competitors, it is that new fire engines are not being ordered."
"We will support those affected as much as possible to help them to find new employment," he added.
Is this a sign of things to come for Guildford?