Where the industry stands

At the current time it is interesting to measure the mood of the industry and in particular that of investors and lenders.

No one believes that we are to see an imminent return to high performance levels but there is a (whisper it quietly) consensus that we have probably reached the initial low point.

The major lenders also seem to be taking a medium term view with the vast majority of their investor and operator partners. Where management teams are demonstrating a firm grip of the realities of the situation then lenders seem (reluctantly) happy to work through "get well" plans. There seems little or no motivation to crystallize situations and therefore to present opportunities for the vulture funds to pick up distressed assets at knock down values. The overriding message, therefore is "demonstrate good control of your businesses and we will all work together to come out at the other end".

As always the Vision team would be delighted to provide any assistance in benchmarking current performance and in assisting the drive for cashflow.