Paul Newby - Executive Director

2010 started with us all being officially told that we are out of the recession.

Well, I needn’t try and convince any of you that we are still likely to have some tough times along the way; in fact, as I write this, Greece is being assisted with its financial problems, proving that it isn’t just individuals and companies that are feeling the pressure of the global economy, entire countries are too…quite staggering.

Whether you believe that we remain in recession; are out of recession or still waiting for the second wave of a ‘double dip’, the fact remains that the world keeps turning; the sun comes up in the morning and so to use the famous war-time expression, we must “Keep Calm and Carry On”.

I think the remainder of 2010 holds more questions than it does answers, critically: Who will win the General Election? Can they control the national debt? Will interest rates rise? How much further will taxes rise? What effect will these have on discretionary spending?

Aside these issues, I think the trade is most in need of three answers:

w Will banks begin to start looking for reasons to lend rather than reasons why they shouldn’t?

w What will happen to the tied pub model?

w And, what action will the government take over the minimum pricing of alcohol?

As a business that prides itself on knowing a lot about a little and not a little about a lot, I hope that our experts will provide some answers to the licensed property related questions in this edition of On market. As for the wider issues, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. One thing that remains a certainty is that whatever the changes ahead, the licensed trade will again prove to be full of people with resilience and there will be members of our sector who will thrive in whatever the environment – I hope you are amongst them.