Don’t change the bonus scheme. With less business around, an extra commission will make little difference to sales. You need your good sales people – without them you don’t have a business. Look after them now, when they really need the money, and you will probably win their long-term support.

Leave their salaries alone but give them a substantial one-off payment along with a handwritten letter explaining why they deserve your support.

You do not have to pay everyone the same special bonus, pay each one what you think they deserve, but always be generous.

Put the letter in a handwritten envelope and send it to their home address. The increase in your salary bill will be money well spent.

Question: I’m one of those much-maligned bricks-and-mortar businesses that’s apparently rubbish because we don’t sell online. However, the other day a long-standing customer told me she couldn’t believe I wasn’t online. I take her views more seriously than the so-called experts. The thing is, I’ve got too many other things to do. What’s your view? Is a virtual presence a must ?

Answer: Even if you don’t want to sell your products or services on the internet you certainly need a website. When you were a lad, potential customers looked at the Yellow Pages, now they search for you on Google. If you want persuading, ask your children, who may even be able to create the website on your behalf.

There are plenty of consultants willing to design your web presence, claiming that their experience will help you appear high up in Google’s rankings, but there is no need to spend a fortune to get started.

More than a decade ago Russ, who worked in our shops around Worksop, volunteered to set up the first Timpson web pages. Within weeks he was selling house signs and shoe laces and the internet has provided a modest but profitable addition to our business. If a cobbler can find the web worthwhile I am sure you can too.

Build a website, but don’t be sucked in by the keen computer kings who think life revolves around the internet. Information technology has a role to play in every business, but bricks and mortar still matter and regardless of whether you are dealing in a real or virtual world, the better your people, the better you will do.

Question: Have you ever taken action against one of your employees for leaving your business, taking your customers with them and setting up in competition? We’ve got terms in our contracts that should give us some comfort but one person has already broken those terms and we have to decide whether it’s worth the cost of pursuing him.

Answer: Thankfully, I have never had this problem, none of our senior executives has left us to set up in opposition. Even if they did, I doubt whether their contract of employment would give us much protection. It would be difficult to win any worthwhile damages, so, if I was in your position I would hassle the ex-employee but stop short of legal action. The only people who are bound to benefit are the lawyers.

Every year we have a trickle of Timpson employees who leave us to open their own shops. Technically they are in breach of their contract but, so far, we have never taken any to court.

We watch them carefully, and if they aggressively try to poach our best people we will have a few sharp words. But in most cases we stay on good terms. If I am visiting our shops nearby, I drop in to see them and catch up with their news. I admire people with the courage to invest in themselves.

Many tell me they owed it to themselves to have a go. Several soon discover that it is not so easy to make money out of shoe repairs and many former superstars come back to work for Timpson. It pays to stay on friendly terms.

Question: I’ve never bribed anyone in my life but I hear that if my agent in Turkey offers a bribe without my knowledge I could end up going to prison in the UK? What should I do?

Answer: The existence of bribery is seldom admitted by businessmen (or public servants) but buyers are often tempted by "generous" suppliers. It is a short step from the friendly Christmas gift to the offer of substantial back-handers.

Once bribery becomes established, purchasing decisions start to be made in the interests of the buyer rather than the business.

For purchasers the only proper policy is to ban all buyers’ gifts and bring every transaction out into the open, but what line should you take as a supplier?

As soon as you offer a bribe, however small, you have risked your reputation. If you make under the counter payments you will always have something to hide.

Perhaps, you might argue, informal incentives are normal in your industry or part of the culture of a country in which you trade. But if you don’t think the payments are a problem the tax man probably will.

No sector is whiter than white, we sometimes find ourselves thwarted by the obstinate jobsworth who won’t bend the rules until you grease his palm. We don’t play his game. Sometimes we suffer but being straight has not stopped our company grow. Are you going to fall to temptation or will you cling to the moral high ground? The decision is yours.