8.12.2011

The beauty of independence

During November, Chime (Bell Pottinger), Huntsworth (Grayling) and design led group, Hasgrove, all gave notice of a reduced profit outlook in one form or another and saw their share prices suffer.
Against a backdrop of fear and uncertainty the market has zero tolerance for profit warnings, however they are veiled.

At times like these it’s good to be an independent company.  You are not hidebound by the demands and constraints placed on a public company.  As an independent you face exactly the same market forces as listed counterparts but without the pressure of slashing costs to keep analysts in the City happy   And as costs largely mean staff, the clear implication is that you don’t have to protect short term profitability through redundancy programmes. You have more ability and flexibility to weather the storm and hang on to your key assets – your people.

Andrew Litchfield, Managing Director