Time was that the UK’s financial elite truly believed that we could keep on growing year-on-year. They believed we would somehow keep climbing the ladder and find an economic heaven that would see our little island become capable of striding the globe for the first time since the days of empire. The bubble burst in 2008 and you all know the rest.

Many of the businesses in our industry, both sign-maker and supplier alike have had to box very clever to stay afloat, with only the fittest surviving. This state of affairs has gone on for so long that many would be forgiven for thinking that the facts point towards one conclusion: the UK’s golden days of economic might and global influence are over, as we slide inexorably towards becoming a second tier European state—equal to the likes of Portugal and Spain.

I may have to eat my hat, but my prediction is that we now are staggering off the canvas. Indeed, our illustrious Chancellor, George Osborne, has had a smile playing across his ruby lips in recent months as the budget deficit has been reduced by £1bn to £120bn.

The other good news is that the deficit is stable and now only 7.8 percent of GDP, down 3.2 percent on a peak in 2009 to 2010. The final piece of economic good news is the UK economy is growing, albeit at the pace of a blind geriatric tortoise, and inflation is falling.

Tying this back to our situation, this positive data seems to ring true. Not only did FESPA voice its complete confidence in our market by situating its 2013 edition at the London Excel, but speaking to many suppliers this month there is one common denominator—they are selling kit at rates not experienced since 2007.
This trend is borne out by our own advertising sales figures here at SignLink, with the last quarter our best for more than five years. So, get set folks, it seems everything is about to change.
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