Not even the most gifted of our financial leaders would have predicted a slump of the scale witnessed in quarters two and three of 2008.
Our industry suffered greatly not only due to the economic climate but due to a terrible summer.
In August I had to do a first half review for my Korean masters and while delivering my presentation the heavens opened with a vengeance. The noise was so loud on the roof, nobody could hear a thing I said. No surprise that the small split market was decimated.
2009 poses new challenges for us all. Contractors and installers are all struggling to secure adequate credit to sustain their business and a raft of new legislation is upon us which will only make matters trickier.
If I could predict what was going to happen in the economy in 2009 I wouldn’t be here, I would be chancellor of the exchequer. But even the most optimistic pundits say things won't get better this side of August 2009.
The doomsday merchants are predicting a long and horrible slump exceeding that of the 1930’s. I do hope they are wrong. If you want to really feel bad about it read the grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck it describes how tough things were back then.
It's clear that 2009 will be a year of tightening our belts and getting the job done as efficiently as possible. The market still marches on and we will all have to fight to keep our piece of the pie.
I wish you all the best of luck in 2009 and have adopted the attitude that in two years we will look back on all this and laugh about it.