Struggling for motivation? Head to the Summit…

As someone who is naturally pessimistic, I’m going to do my best to ignore all the doom and gloom in the headlines and focus on the positives.

That means I’m not going to mention the war, or the government, or the Bank of England stepping in to prop up the UK economy or the fact that consumer confidence is at its lowest ebb for 10 years, or that mortgage rates have gone through the roof.

Here’s a positive. According to a report by the British Retail Consortium, retail sales actually increased in value by 2.2% in September – although I will gloss over other findings in that research that showed the drop in sales volumes and the big spike in sales of blankets and warm clothing…

So, I’ll try again, starting with the recent GGF members day, the first for three years, that was held at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. The atmosphere amongst delegates was ‘upbeat’ despite the current challenges facing the market.

And last week’s Business Pilot barometer also revealed an ‘OK’ month for UK window and door sales in September, slightly down on sales compared to August but order values were up by 8%.

When you consider the backdrop of economic turmoil, that’s encouraging to say the least.

And here’s some more positivity. Next week, along with 400 or so industry people, I will be at the Glazing Summit in Birmingham, an event that will tackle all the big issues currently facing the industry.

There’s a first class line-up of speakers for this year’s Summit, including the recently announced CEO of Homeserve, Richard Harpin. One of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, Richard helped take Homeserve from a company that was losing £500,000 a year to a 4.7 billion global success story.

I’m expecting a motivational speech to cheer up even the most miserable of pessimists!

For more on the Glazing Summit, click here.