Bermuda's service industry is feeling the knock-on effect of the recession, with one company's accounts receivable up 25 percent over the past year.Air Care Ltd's general manager Robert Platt said that sales were down 20 percent during 2010 compared to the previous year with payments outstanding from residential and commercial customers, including hotels and restaurants.When asked about the impact of the recession on business, he said: “It's having a serious effect on us.“We have accounts receivable with a number of hotels and restaurants.“Also people have been calling us and saying they can't afford to pay their bills and asking for payment plans.“At the moment we are turning into Bermuda's fifth bank.“But thankfully we run a low-cost model here even though we are struggling.”Mr Platt said that the construction part of the business was “dead”, air-conditioning, which accounts for 90 percent of trade had slowed right down, and customers were only replacing appliances when absolutely necessary after they had expired, while the company was having to finance some projects that clients couldn't afford to pay for.“People just don't have any money,” he said. He said that Air Care had been inundated with CVs from former Bermuda Air Conditioning employees who had been laid off, but most specialised in construction work for which there was no demand.But Mr Platt added that the company had a shortage of technicians, however it was finding it hard to recruit them due to the restrictions imposed on certain nationalities by the Department of Immigration and the lack of interest from UK and North American workers.Despite predicting no end to the economic downturn in 2011 with further job cuts and businesses closing, he hopes to see some signs of recovery by next year.One positive note has been the opportunity for the company to send two young Bermudians overseas to use their knowledge and expertise and experience working in a different environment, said Mr Platt.Stratton Hatfield, a maintenance sales representative, will be helping sales staff to set up Air Care's operation in Johannesburg, South Africa for one month, and Aaron Chase, an HVAC installation technician, will be working on the Daikin Project in the Cayman Islands for six weeks installing new equipment sold to a contractor over there.