We are approaching not just the end of the year, but the end of an era.

Unmistakable signs abound, whether in the departure of Downton Abbey and Lewis from our TVs, or Iceland finally forsaking its sponsorship of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.

So maybe it is time to address the next chunk of aggravation on course to seriously impact our businesses, lives and happiness.

No surprise here, friends et amis und freunde – it’s the European hokey-cokey.

Almost time to shake it all about and cast your coveted ‘in or out’ vote in the riveting referendum that will help determine your own future and that of those near and dear.

All arguments have two sides, both of which I have heard rehearsed and refined with growing passion and regularity in the House of Lords, and are far too long to summarise fairly in this column.

So let me offer the considered personal view of a father, grandpa and lifelong retailer.

Whether in the long term we are better served as part of Europe or not, in a world of known unknowns and unknown unknowns, who can tell?

Difficult decision

One thing blatantly apparent, however, is that regardless of the fears and opportunities debate, arguments about world influence, border controls, market access, state benefits and London as the financial hub of Europe, the shorter-term picture is crystal clear – indicating that pain from the process of exiting the EU would be both intense and protracted.

How could it be otherwise, when we have spent 42 years binding ourselves closer and tighter to our European partners?

I predict confidently, in or out, our resourcefulness and tenacity and the talent of this nation of shopkeepers will ensure our long-term survival and prosperity

Any attempt to tear down these strong connections, designed and built for eternity on deep-rooted foundations, must guarantee all here in the UK years and years of intense confusion and abject discomfort: the sort of torture, trauma, upset and uncertainty that only damages business and creates real austerity.

No need to be a qualified economist, just apply a bit of common sense. Even the break-up of a marriage, normally involving just two people, can have devastating, lifelong, life-changing consequences. For example, how do you cut a Labrador in half?

Imagine that amplified, magnified, ratcheted up and leveraged to a divorce of tens of millions of people approaching their golden anniversary.

Certain pain

So whether good, bad or none of the above, long term the simple fact of attempting to dismantle and undo such a strongly buttressed European relationship, built to withstand global ravages and tightly wrapped in a Gordian knot of red tape, will without doubt result in ‘Nightmare on High Street’ – a story of empty tills.

I predict confidently, in or out, our resourcefulness and tenacity and the talent of this nation of shopkeepers will ensure our long-term survival and prosperity.

It is the mammoth mess and terrible turmoil of the actual disengagement process and procedures that cause my insomnia. Let us not play roulette with our future, even if it is a French game.

Perhaps, whatever side we drive on, this is the moment to play safe and stick to the road we know best, potholes and all.

When the time comes, maybe it should be oui, ja and OK to the status quo.

  • Lord Kirkham is the founder of DFS