Happy New 2013

08 January 2013, 14:00 pm
Speciality Bites by Paul Hargreaves

I hope you all had a refreshing Christmas break and are excited about the start of a New Year

Did you know this is the first year containing 4 different digits since 1987?  1987 was the highest economic growth this country has seen for the last 50 years at 5%. So despite the presence of a 13 in the year, let’s hope it is good fortune that befalls the speciality food sector this year.

It certainly appears that retailers had a much better Christmas than 2011, and we have certainly had some bumper orders in the few days back since starting back, which is a good sign.  Also early feedback from our sales team suggests that many customers felt like they hadn’t ordered enough stock for the festive period which is backed up by the fact that we had enormous orders coming in during our last week before Christmas which is very unusual – we normally quieten down in that week, so all in all everything seems to be set well for 2013.

Whilst our financial year doesn’t start until 1st April, the calendar year always seems a more natural time to review the past year and look forward and plan for the coming year, which is what I am doing at present.  I like to involve all staff members in this, so have asked the question, “If you can wave a magic wand and change something in the business this year, then what would it be?”. The answers have ranged from simple and easy to implement to “in your dreams!”  They are all laid out on the floor at present as we put our plans together.  We do this as a simply 10 point “Aims for the Year”, which goes up in our Staff Room/Kitchen to remind everyone whilst they are eating their lunch.  Food for Thought?

Three Tips for 2013 – (and ones I am still trying to keep myself)

·      Get out of bed with a smile on your face! (yes even at 5:30 am)
·      Look forward to opportunity rather than backwards to regrets
·      Think in your people interactions – am I making this person’s day better or worse?

Have a good year!

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