Last month on this very page I acted as a harbinger of doom suggesting regulation was a gloomy pall hanging over the industry.
While regulatory changes are clearly on their way, it appears as though my emotional outlook was out of sync with the rest of the industry.
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A lot of you are, in fact, in a good mood and so you should be.
As I write this I have just about recovered from the sumptuous annual dinner hosted by the Finance & Leasing Association and I can say with confidence the mood in the Great Room at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel was not just celebratory but eagerly optimistic.
Speaking to many of the attendees representing the UK leasing industry and guests from continental Europe, the outlook across the board was very positive. Lessors are looking forward to what they perceive to be a healthier investment climate in 2014 and there seems to be an attitude of renewed vigour within the leasing industry to go out and grab more business and reach more customers.
That positivity is reflected in this month’s content.
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By GlobalDataThe latest Leaseurope Index covering the fourth quarter of 2013 has shown positive signs across all major indicators including a return to business volume growth after a drop in 2012.
This month’s cover story looks at the European office equipment market and the experts we spoke to all anticipate growth and expansion this year and identify healthy competition in the market which is driving innovation in products and deal structures – which in turn is bringing more customers to leasing.
While growth and dynamism in the mature office equipment market is hugely encouraging for the wider industry, perhaps a more telling story is that of the Spanish market, this month’s country focus.
Few European leasing markets have suffered as much economic pain since 2008 and again during the eurozone sovereign debt crisis as Spain.
While growth in the leasing market is not yet forthcoming – indeed business performance is still low and the Spanish economy is still suffering more than many of its neighbours – the feeling among lessors is that the worst is over.
Business volumes are not growing, but neither are they falling, and although the market has consolidated, businesses are no longer exiting the market.
It is not time yet to say the Spanish leasing market is out of the woods, but perhaps a signposted path has emerged and the way is clear.
And that is something for all in the European leasing industry to feel optimistic about.
Grant Collinson, editor
grant.collinson@leasinglife.com
