Landscape Juice

Buy-to-let debt is a risk to the economy says Carney

The Bank of England has warned that buy-to-let lending poses a risk to Britain's financial stability. In line with rising house prices investors are in line taking on ever larger loans, which leaves them vulnerable if house prices are to fall, said the Financial Policy Committee in a report. The Bank said that if the housing market were to enter a downturn, landlords could find themselves under pressure. BRITAIN's outstanding buy-to-let loans have now topped £200billion - equivalent to the entire GDP of Hong Kong - according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. In July buy-to-let loans jumped a huge... Read more →

Has the tech bubble just burst?

Graph: US NASDAQ I love to watch the money markets and the share indices as it gives me an idea of what we can expect to come in both businesses and our private lives. Whilst not perfect, a graph can tell me at a glance what the underlying sentiment is behind the din of noise created by thousands of commentators, websites and news channels. There is a saying amongst traders that a company's share price or an index has already factored in news that hasn't been released. In other words (and some of this will be due to illegal insider... Read more →

Landscape firm Findlay Clark ceases trading

Aberdeen based landscaping firm Findlay Clark has ceased trading. The firm which employed 31 people and turned over £1.5 million say last year's mild winter caused turnover to fall 20% as it was unable to carry out snow clearing and gritting services. Liquidator, Iain Fraser, with RSM Tenon in Aberdeen, said: “The company has a strong brand, an excellent client base and a very good reputation for the quality of its work across the North East of Scotland. "However, it has been severely affected by a shortage of skilled staff as well as suffering, like many in this sector, from... Read more →

UK in double-dip recession as construction falters

Anyone who's followed my Landscape Juice blog for the last five years or so will know that I not only predicted that the UK would go into recession, I also predicted a second dip into recessionary territory...well that moment has arrived. The UK economy contracted 0.2% in the first three months of 2012. The reason for the latest setback is the uncertainty in the construction industry. BBC economic editor Stephanie Flanders, said: "These figures are slightly worse than many expected, but the fact that the UK is now technically back in recession should not detract from the underlying reality, which... Read more →

Why Tesco results are a warning to us all

There's still no doubt that Tesco is one hell of a success story but in terms of its trading for the last quarter of 2011, Tesco still fell way short of analysts' expectations. Tesco, Britain's largest retailer this morning reported like-for-like UK sales dropped by 2.3% over the festive period. The results for the six weeks to 07 January 2012 came in significantly below expectations and disappointed markets with 14% wiped from Tesco's market cap. It's the biggest one day fall in Tesco stock since 1988: Tesco has lost nearly one quarter of its market cap this year. Sainsbury and... Read more →

Marshalls says its domestic landscaping market remains subdued

Marshalls have released a trading update with revenues for the year ended 2011 up by 8%. Interestingly, domestic sales rose 7%. Marshalls don't however separate international domestic sales from the UK market but reading between the lines, reading this: "In the domestic end market volumes remain subdued against a background of low consumer confidence." Suggests that the UK domestic market's outlook hasn't improved significantly. Do you do hard landscaping? What's your view on the hard landscaping market and what's your view on the prospects for 2012? Marshalls' full statement below: Marshalls' revenue for the year ended 31 December 2011 increased... Read more →

UK headed for a double-dip recession

The United Kingdom is now almost certain to re-enter recession according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD is saying that the UK's gross domestic product will shrink in the last quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012 - If their prediction is correct it will mean the UK will be back in recession. OECDs estimates that growth will slow to just 0.5% in 2012; way down from the estimate it gave back in May. A triple whammy, of weak demand for exports, the government's austerity measures and the squeeze in consumer spending has... Read more →

Monro South in administration

Horticultural supplier, Monro South, has gone into administration. The horticultural supplier - which started trading in 1899 - is now being controlled by joint administrators Simon Paterson and David McClean of Moore Stephens. In a statement on the Monro South website, listed creditors, who have not received a creditors report by Friday, 18 February 2011, are asked to contact Sarah Samuels by email - [email protected] Monro South is being sold, either whole or in parts and interested parties are asked to contact agent Edward Symmons to express their interest. Munro Horticulture Limited - download a Retention of Title Questionnaire. Read more →

The costs of fuel and ways to reduce it

Crude oil prices are again threatening the $100 a barrel level. Although this is high it is still a lot less than the $150 peak of 2008. Why then are the figures at the pump going up and up beyond 2008 levels? One reason is that the British pound is now weaker against the dollar. The dollar is the currency for oil. Another reason is that the government is collecting 58.95p in tax per litre of petrol or about 63% of the total, writes Carol Miers. The effect is an increase of roughly 40% in fuel costs in three years... Read more →

Are smaller landscaping businesses set for rich pickings?

"Landscape industry dismayed over coalition cuts to school building programme" - a headline on Hort Week today. Goodness knows where the hell the landscape industry has been for the last 2-3 years? Surely, any sensible business owner (especially those reading Landscape Juice) would be more than aware that this recession is like no other; it has a long way to play out before a real recovery gets under way and there will be a lot more casualties before a recovery happens. Whilst some pundits were telling you to prepare for the upturn and that the recession is over, I've been... Read more →