Business has faced its most difficult year, with tough decisions and nimble action required to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The virus, and lockdowns to manage it, have shrunk our economy by 11%, and recovery will be gradual at best.
By the end of February, Hamilton Shipping in Belfast was reporting a slowdown in its deliveries of Chinese-made goods like curtains and sofas as a result of shutdowns in China, where the virus originated.
From March to December, businesses here faced lockdowns beginning with a UK-wide "stay at home" order on March 23.
The cessation of international travel and a slowdown in consumer demand were quickly felt in the hospitality sector.
The collapse of Flybe in March was the start of a terrible year for aviation.
Belfast International Airport's boss Graham Keddie said it was losing £60,000 a day.
But the crisis also prompted companies like Huhtamaki, Bloc Blinds and O'Neill's to pivot into making personal protective equipment (PPE) such as scrubs and visors.
MJM Marine in Newry, specialising in the fit-out of cruise ships, made hundreds of staff redundant as high-profile outbreaks of Covid-19 on cruises put that industry into indefinite hibernation.
The claimant count of unemployed people here more than doubled between March and the end of May, to hit 65,200. But it would have been much worse without the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s measures helped to keep people in jobs
It preserved the jobs of those unable to work because of lockdown, with government paying 80% of monthly wages, up to a maximum of £2,500. At its peak, there were nearly 250,000 furloughed jobs here - now there are 68,000.
All businesses here received a four-month rates holiday, and some categories benefited from a full year. There have been extensive government-backed loans, from the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for smaller firms to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. All NI firms which received Small Business Rates Relief also got a £10,000 grant, while tourism, retail, leisure and hospitality firms got a £25,000 grant.
There were grants to help self-employed people under the UK-wide Self Employed Income Support Scheme. But many thousands of people failed to qualify for any help, though schemes have been announced in recent months in an attempt to address the gaps.
There were still problems for businesses able to keep going during lockdown. Many of our biggest firms came under pressure from unions over an alleged lack of social distancing in their factories. But a flurry of rows subsided as people adjusted to "the new normal".
Globe-trotting businesspeople who'd previously thought nothing of jetting across the Atlantic for conferences - to say nothing of taking the red-eye to Heathrow several times a week - were confined to their homes. There was a new working culture to get used to as working from home was adopted, with accompanying glimpses into bosses' and colleagues' living rooms, studies and kitchens.
At the end of August, a survey by Belfast Chamber reported that just 5% of office workers were back in their offices. The death of lunchtime browsing has meant even tougher times for retailers, with many big names forced off high streets - from Cath Kidston to Oasis. Topshop is in administration while Debenhams faces liquidation.
Retail had already been facing insurmountable problems - but coronavirus has made them a lot worse, partly by forcing more and more of us to embrace online shopping. The last few months of the year also brought fears about the impact of the NI Protocol, part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, on the arrival of supermarket goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
Happily those issues have been resolved for now while the conclusion of a UK-EU Free Trade Agreement also eases some concerns for business. But after the shocks of 2020, not even that Christmas Eve miracle will conjure up complacency about what 2021 might bring.
