I keep bumping into people who claim to read this occaisional rambling section of the website. (It is only here for SEO reasons). I find it deeply troubling that anyone would waste more than 2 breaths on this part of the site. There are so many good things in the other areas. The sad thing is it is always the bloody suppliers who read it and none of the customers!! Have you nothing better to do? Shoo!
A bit like the opening lines of Dickens 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. It appears that Covid-19 did change a lot of things in the UK market. It broke a lot of trust between supplier and customer. Large companies were forced to use their school Latin to bandy about words like force majeur etc. It was understandable why contracts made had to be broken but it is now more difficult to believe bits of paper will protect you in the future if people you have known for 20 years rip them up when prices move hard against you, or when it is more convenient to walk away from a deal. So I think a lot of this 'trust' is behind the splintering of the UK market. So many new suppliers craving market share. Tolkien would have been proud. Pleased to give him a name check even if he went to Oxford. He and Boole are the only two good things to come out of that filthy University.
I was at a lecture recently at which the head of the Institute for Sales said '60 percent of purchase decisions are incorrect'. That goes again to the heart of Trust. Presumably 60 percent of the market put their trust in someone who gave them the wrong advice and said 'Trust Me'. Once again that goes back to the splintering of the UK market and the number of new comers trying to get to our shores. Certainly if these new entrants get any time with a base in the UK they should see some success. So it was an interesting time - for Newton it was the best of times. We had a huge set of results during and after Covid. Will it be the worst of times? Well as a dealer (aka whore) we have to roll with the changes. It is those with fixed postions who win during steady times and then lose during rapid change. At Newton we love change. So if some of the Turkish companies find market here - that will be interesting. There are Chinese trailers landing in useful numbers - we have bought some and I cannot tell them apart. So plenty of change and we shall have to work our way through it. I am glad we have the 40 per cent of the market who gave us their trust and got it right........
Posted by Andrew on 09/09/2024
