Chariman's Report from John Powell

August 2010

I must start my first report as Chair of the Job Shop Group by complementing Dave Connaway for his great efforts leading the Group over the last two difficult years.

Well... I promised at our annual business meeting last year that the recession would be over by my birthday (6th March) and things seem have gone pretty much to plan. I also said that the post-recession prosperity of your firm would be index-linked to the size of birthday present you sent me ... so if you're experiencing any difficulty at the moment you've only got yourself to blame. What we have to fear now is the government - how will the performance of this bunch of numpties compare to that of the previous bunch of numpties?

It would seem that most laser job shops saw some improvement over the course of 2009 but I'm finding that it's still an uphill climb trying to get back to the position we were in a couple
of years ago. One setback was a big jump in steel prices a little earlier this year but prices seem to have calmed down for the moment.

The annual job shop business meeting last year was particularly successful - especially the 'let's all wash our dirty linen in public' session where delegates shared information about how they were surviving the recession. Some good ideas and much support and consolation came out of this. This year's meeting (JS 10) will be held on the 17th November at Bystronic's new site in Coventry will be on the theme of 'Now we are out of the recession how do we grow?'; unless, that is, the numpties or, even worse, the bankers*, plunge us back into the abyss. So - the sun is shining, the phones are ringing ... onward and upward!

John Powell - Laser Expertise Ltd
E: jpowell@laserexp.co.uk

PS I would like to propose that from now on the collective noun for bankers should be a 'wunch'. The term would be 'a wunch of bankers'.

 


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