Life on the roller coaster!

In a market that can’t seem to work up whether it’s shackled down by lead weights and sinking to the bottom of the ocean or bobbling along on the surface; everyday seems to bring a new discussion.

For much of the early part of the year our clients put us on pause until we had had the election, and finally once that was out of the way we saw a distinct upturn across all of our market sectors. However, like a candle with a damp wick, the announcements of the budget cuts and the Spending Review soon snuffed out that initial post election optimism.

Fortunately for us, we have little exposure to the public sector and now that the business world has finally digested what it believes the full impact of the spending review to be, we have again seem a shimmer of cautious optimism from clients.

Why cautious? The VAT rise in the New Year will again hit much of the construction and retails sectors although many expect the rise to be spread across the supply chain before reaching consumers. Talking with my colleagues across Europe has shown that many of the CEE states, Germany and Scandinavia are bucking the trend and performing well, giving rise to business opportunities for UK companies in those markets, whilst Ireland’s problems are well documented.

Putting a wet finger up in the cold early winter air to offer you a prediction for 2011 is a mugs game and one which for the moment I will pass on, but many clients feel that the UK has many of the fundamentals in place to deliver a slow growth economy and improve upon previous year’s performances.

If you would like to talk with one of the Directors about how InterSearch in the UK can work with you then please contact us at www.intersearchuk.com