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Is the recession hitting your business?
According to the ENDS report, the contaminated land market has been hardest hit by the economic downturn (as construction projects dry up), but that energy efficiency/renewables markets are booming.
Personally I've found the situation more complicated than that:
- the construction industry (a key client group for me) is still taking projects to planning and that is the phase I tend to get involved in.
- in the manufacturing sector, people understand the benefits of cutting their costs through waste minimisation and energy efficiency, but some are reluctant to take action - presumably this risk aversion has something to do with job security!
- public sector is still buying as ever and is a good rock on which to see out the storms.
I'm very interested in the views of others.
Personally I've found the situation more complicated than that:
- the construction industry (a key client group for me) is still taking projects to planning and that is the phase I tend to get involved in.
- in the manufacturing sector, people understand the benefits of cutting their costs through waste minimisation and energy efficiency, but some are reluctant to take action - presumably this risk aversion has something to do with job security!
- public sector is still buying as ever and is a good rock on which to see out the storms.
I'm very interested in the views of others.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Graeme Mills on -
Yep its hitting but not so much in volume of work, just people holding onto payment longer - which is a worry.
Sector wise - agree about the public sector and the fact that iin NE England we area public sectro economy should shield us from the worst of it (here's hoping) -
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Permalink Reply by Doug Harris on -
Gareth,
I can see things getting tighter after Christmas. With the Envirowise cutbacks and the end of MIDAS funding, there is not much encouragement to take to clients .... and this is the very time they can ill-afford to pay for everything themselves. I also still have a modest foot in the recyclables camp. My cardboard skip collections have gone from costing £10 with no charge for skip rental to £50 plus a £10/week rental, an overnight 830% increase!! meanwhile the value of the recovered plastics (LDPE) I collect has dropped by 40%, also overnight. As Graeme says, many areas of our sphere of operation are cushioned to some extent where we might be linked to the public sector, but 'in the real world' it is tough.
Doug -
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Permalink Reply by Gareth Kane on -
Doug Harris said:Gareth,
I can see things getting tighter after Christmas. With the Envirowise cutbacks and the end of MIDAS funding, there is not much encouragement to take to clients .... and this is the very time they can ill-afford to pay for everything themselves. I Doug
Something that has always worried me is whether public subsidy of resource efficiency programmes has undermined our industry by presenting it as something that should come free or cheap. This may sound odd from someone who has got his income from ERDF, BREW, Midas, Envirowise, NISP and all the rest, but would a company needing some support in, say, marketing or a new IT system, expect Government to pay for it? If they can pay their waste/energy bills, why can't they pay to get them reduced? -
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Permalink Reply by Doug Harris on
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Gareth,
Good point. It reminds me of my experience with children. There is definitely a scenario whereby it is better to have them stand on their own two feet rather than mollycoddling them. However once you have travelled the soft route, they expect it all the time! I don't suppose businesses are any different really.
Doug -
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Permalink Reply by Gareth Kane on
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Graeme Mills said:Yep its hitting but not so much in volume of work, just people holding onto payment longer - which is a worry.
Graham - do you ask for any payment up front? I ask for 30% and offer a 10% discount if the whole lot is paid in advance. -
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Permalink Reply by Graeme Mills on
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Hi Gareth - yep on some I ask for 20% up front but not the 10% discount - that's a very good idea. I think there is probably more we can do in tightening up our contracts as well (where we even have them) - just carried away with winning the work sometimes.
Gareth Kane said:Graeme Mills said:Yep its hitting but not so much in volume of work, just people holding onto payment longer - which is a worry.
Graham - do you ask for any payment up front? I ask for 30% and offer a 10% discount if the whole lot is paid in advance. -
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Permalink Reply by Gareth Kane on
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I recently read in a newsletter from another consultancy (Morgan Cross) that the Tour de France is not won on the downhills but on the climbs when the going is tough - that's when the overtaking takes place. I find that really inspiring.
With 100 of the biggest 660-odd environmental consultancies "in serious financial difficulty" and many laying staff off (according to the ENDS report), the market will be opening up. I don't know how everyone is finding it, but we've more work on now than we had this time last year. -
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Permalink Reply by Graeme Mills on
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Hi Gareth
I'd agree with your analysis although there are pockets of business doing well in all sectors. The task is seeking them out. I met a construction business recently that's doing really well - they build and maintain prisons (might need more prisons if crime continues to grow)
Public sector - definitely more insulated but I'm a bit worried its going to be less lucrative over the next few years
Graeme -
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