What does 2023 have in store for our industry?

COMMENT

KEITH CHRISTIAN DIRECTOR BAGMA

BAGMA director

Keith Christian writes what may be his last column for BAGMA Bulletin…

Welcome to 2023 and, yes, I am still here. We expect to be making an announcement about who my successor will be after this edition goes to print. We will profile the new BAGMA general manager in our next edition of the BAGMA Bulletin.

I’m just about to head off to LAMMA and then the BTME show, so I will no doubt have brushed shoulders with many of you during January and before this edition hits the streets.

The big question is ‘what does 2023 have in store for our industry’? Well, there is lots of speculation and it is difficult to decide if we will see any improvement or just a blurring of what we have experienced in the last year. One hopes that we will return to health both physically and in a business sense. I read a few positive extracts about inflation going down, but probably may not if all the demands for pay rises are met.

There seems to be some easing in supply chains, but it does depend on what type of product you are after. Once again, the resilience of the industry will no doubt adapt and figure out what needs to be done to keep the doors open.

With so much to contend with for businesses, the government and personally, an old proverb comes to mind: ‘when you’re up to your arse in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp’.

We will get there but may get a bit muddy on the way. Have a great 2023.