The tyre retailers trade association, the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA), announced the results of a poll of members to gauge the effects of the economic downturn on their businesses.Said NTDA Director Richard Edy: 'Even though it's the early days of the recession, the answers to our survey indicate that tyre retailers are battening down the hatches and are expecting a tough time ahead.' As an example, 66% said that they have reduced their capital expenditure, while 62% have postponed the purchase of equipment. When it comes to the workforce, just over half of the businesses (55%) have reduced staffing levels and 50% have awarded pay rises below the level of inflation. 45% reported that they had reduced staff hours or cut overtime. On the financial front, 21% said that they had been refused a bank loan, while 40 per cent claimed to have suffered from increased bank or credit charges. Unsurprisingly in these difficult times, 72% of the businesses have introduced tighter credit control conditions.67% reported a fall-off in levels of retail business and 64% have responded to the downturn by reducing their stocking levels. Perhaps more worryingly, 64% claimed to have noticed a deterioration in the condition of tyres removed, which bears out a recent survey by car insurance provider Swinton, in which 23% of motorists admitted they would not be replacing tyres until they were very close to the legal minimum tread depth of 1.6 millimetres (despite many in the tyre industry recommending 3 millimetres for safety reasons). 'This is an extremely worrying trend,' said Richard Edy. 'Tyres with low tread levels are more likely to aquaplane in wet conditions and, with wintry weather forecast, drivers are putting their lives – and those of other road users and pedestrians – at risk.'Finally, what are the prospects for future business? The short answer, according to the NTDA survey, can best be summed up as 'bleak', with the vast majority (69%) of tyre retailers saying that their confidence in the future has been diminished.