Vic Johnson, who runs Johnson Design Partnership in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, has been inundated with projects over the last six months, from homeowners looking for stylish extensions to a multi-million pound project to regenerate a vast corner of Uganda into a science and technology park.

In a wake-up call to the doom merchants, Vic believes British businesses and consumers are in danger of believing the hype.

Vic said: “Every day we hear things are getting worse. The stock markets in freefall, America bracing itself for more sub-prime misery and lenders pulling the rug from under everyone's feet.

“But we are in grave danger of believing the hype. The credit crunch can be brought on by panic as much as any true financial factor so we have to ensure that we don't just accept the headlines.

“There are lots of people out there doing extremely well for themselves; lots of businesses running well and with plenty of projects in the pipeline. We have never been busier: we are taking on more staff, building new premises and have a glut of big contracts which proves that industry is still prepared to spend.”

Far from being a time of misery, Vic believes now is the time for opportunity.

“Yes, it may be more difficult to get credit for projects at the moment and this is no doubt going to have some impact on the small-scale developers, but the big boys with track records and a nose for opportunity are cracking on. They are, in fact, making hay while the sun shines.

“After all, when do you buy shares: when they are rising or when they are cheap?”