2016 is almost at an end, and what a year it\u2019s been! Every year has plenty happening, but not usually such extremes. We\u2019re finishing the year with plenty of uncertainty, but we\u2019re business-people \u2014 it\u2019s up to us to turn uncertainties into opportunities.<\/p>\n
The world hasn\u2019t been a safe place for some time, but conflict across the Middle East and the migrant crisis have got worse during 2016, while the increase of international terrorism has polarised opinion. Several countries have experienced political upsets, none greater than Donald Trump\u2019s victory in the US presidential election. It remains to be seen whether he\u2019ll be as extreme in office as he was campaigning.<\/p>\n
And we had our own political bombshell in June, where predictions were overturned and we voted to leave the EU. No-one knows how it\u2019s going to play out \u2014 whether we\u2019ll have a \u201chard\u201d or \u201csoft\u201d Brexit, and even who\u2019s going to start the process. It\u2019s likely to remain up in the air for some time \u2014 though one result of the referendum is that we now have our second female prime minister.<\/p>\n
The list of people we\u2019ve lost seems longer than most years \u2014 among many others, iconic musicians such as David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen, great actors like Alan Rickman and Gene Wilder, \u201cnational treasures\u201d Sir Terry Wogan and Victoria Wood, and \u201cThe Greatest\u201d, Muhammad Ali. We\u2019ve no doubt also gained people who\u2019ll be special in the future, but we\u2019ll only know that in retrospect.<\/p>\n
It hasn\u2019t all been gloom, though. In August, the UK had its best Olympics medal tally for a century (including two more golds for Hertfordshire\u2019s Laura Trott), while Andy Murray enjoyed a triumphant year, including a second Wimbledon title, ending as world number one.<\/p>\n
Despite all the uncertainties, there are clear signs the economy\u2019s improving, especially for SMEs that are willing to be imaginative and seize the initiative. I\u2019m in a position to see a microcosm of the national situation in the local (and sometimes less local) businesses I help to find leads.<\/p>\n
Though, like all years, 2016 has seen fluctuations, with some very bad weeks, overall I\u2019ve seen some great companies reaching out and grasping new opportunities. The business is there, if you work hard for it.<\/p>\n
The uncertainties aren\u2019t going to go away anytime soon, but nor are the opportunities. I wish all of you exciting growth in the New Year \u2014 and I hope I\u2019ll be able to play a part in helping some of you achieve it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2016 is almost at an end, and what a year it\u2019s been! Every year has plenty happening, but not usually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n