It is, as it always is, hard to believe another year is about to come to an end.
By the time you read this our conference in Berlin will have come and gone and many of you be gearing up for the last few engagements before the all-too-short Christmas break.
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Looking back as is customary at this time of year, I think 2013 has been an interesting 12 months for the leasing industry.
We’ve all witnessed lessors, having taken stock of their businesses and the markets in which they’ve operated over the past few tumultuous years, refocus, restructure and realign themselves.
With the Leasing Life conference in mind, just a few days ahead as I write this, I can recall last year, at our conference in Barcelona, when my predecessor spoke of the industry as being in an existential crisis as it sought to identify its raison d’être and work out how best to achieve those core aims.
At the end of 2012 that was a fair assessment, but this year, as I’ve watched the industry, spoken to many of you about your businesses, the markets you serve and your strategic aims, I think a lot of that doubt and uncertainty has gone. Instead it’s been replaced with a focus and a determination.
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By GlobalDataLeasing is an industry which exists to fuel and facilitate economic growth by helping Europe’s businesses do more business. As a mantra, I’ve heard that more and more this year which I think is enormously positive. Leaseurope’s Leasing for Growth campaign which was official launched at its conference in October is a fantastic example of this.
This year growth has been, at best, patchy. There are some markets which have done well, relatively, and grown business volumes. But that success has been tempered with declines in business in other markets, whether geographical or sectorial.
The Leaseurope figures for the first half of the year show a 0.09% decline in the market and a 3.4% drop when you exclude real estate (see page 5). It’s not exactly been a vintage year but it is far from catastrophic. It shows, despite the drag of, predominantly, the southern markets there is still a lot of business out there for the industry.
This flat business volume is a platform from which the industry can start and, with renewed focus, grow next year, and the year after that, and the year after.
Part of achieving this true market growth is the collaborative spirit which, once again in 2013, the leasing industry has demonstrated in Leaseurope’s Future Group, the Leasing Foundation’s broad programme of collaborative projects and the industry’s united front in offering criticism of the second lease accounting exposure draft.
I think this spirit is reflected in this year’s Power 50 list (see page 16) of the industry’s most influential people too, as so many on the list have been recognised precisely for their work for the for the betterment of the industry, whether driving improvements in diversity or representing the leasing community at a legislative level.
A few days from now several of the people on the list and the companies they represent will have been recognised for their achievements at our annual awards dinner. The awards are always about celebrating the European leasing industry and in 2013 there has been a lot worth celebrating.
I wish you all a happy Christmas and New Year and look forward to what 2014 may bring.
Grant Collinson, editor
grant.collinson@leasinglife.com
@Grant_Collinson
