As I write this article it is cold, miserable and tipping down with rain. Despite global warming and the threat of a hotter dry climate, here we are in mid August and not for the first time this week; it feels like a rainy day in November. If I cast my mind back the many decades since I was a child I can recall many a walk down a rain swept esplanade in the middle of summer, cold and miserable and waiting for the sun to come out. So nothing really changes does it?
As children however, we were all generally optimistic and despite the weather we remained positive and even without sunshine we took every opportunity to have some fun. We also were immediately prepared to take advantage of any good weather, grab bucket and spade and hit the sand.
Of course the conditions are tough at the moment but in truth they have been tougher in the past. In general the nursery products industry has entered the slow down later than the rest of industry and hopefully our immersion will be both shallower and shorter than other more generic sectors.
We should remain optimistic, taking comfort in the knowledge that the UK nursery products industry has a long term underlying level of growth providing a robust platform for future development of our businesses in terms of both turnover and profits. We should take heart that whatever we do now to improve our businesses in tougher times will pay further dividends when the market improves.
As if to emphasise the point we see on a daily basis the innovation, creativity and enthusiasm of many new people coming into the market; a sure fire indicator that there is little wrong with our industry. Indeed The Launchpad at this year's BPA Baby & Child is over-subscribed and we may well have to enlarge it still further to cope with the number of exhibitors. To remind you, the Launchpad is for exhibitors demonstrating an array of new and imaginative products for the very first time in the UK.
Then there is the BPA Concept competition. This award is given each year to an inventor who in the judges' opinion has come up with the most original and innovative nursery product concept. In previous years we have seen so many good products and many of them are now well established in the UK and in some cases global marketplace. This year is no exception.
We have received so many exciting entries for BPA Concept Awards 2008 that picking an overall winner will be a very difficult task. In addition to a bumper postbag from the UK we have received entries from Australia, USA, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Singapore.
Not only is the spirit of invention and entrepreneurism alive and well in these challenging times but it seems there is no shortage of overseas companies and individuals wanting to do business here in the UK.
So it would seem every cloud does indeed have a silver lining and as long as there is so much new blood and new thinking coming into our industry there really should only be room for optimism, so let's stop digging holes and start building sand castles!
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