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Julie's PDi column January 2018

It’s that time of year again when we start to look ahead to the next 12 months – and I wonder how businesses across the world are feeling as we head into 2018?

There is still a huge amount of political and economic uncertainty across Europe and America and while that never helps business, I don’t think it has affected our company yet, but we are keeping a close eye on events as we want to be prepared.

The situation with Brexit – which continues to dominate the news in the UK and across Europe, I imagine – is still far from clear but I am sure business will find a way to trade and deal with one another whatever the outcome.

I think what’s important at this time is for companies in our sector to stick together and the Association is a great way of doing that.

We can all get bogged down in the day-to-day running of our businesses but we also need to look outwardly, to make sure we are up-to-date with the relevant information and know what any of the potential issues might be.

It’s during times of uncertainty when it’s most important to make use of the people and organisations that you can turn to for information and support.

I believe now, more than ever before, the IACDS is relevant to all of our businesses and it has never been easier than it is now to approach and find out what’s going on and how it can help you.

The Facebook group is proving to be a very popular way to communicate and the newsletter now reaches more than 2,000 individuals.

But the key point to make is that this is your association and, therefore, we need to hear from you about what we are getting right, what we are getting wrong and what more it could do for you.

The concrete drilling and sawing industry has seen many changes over the years – from technology to the tools we use and from how we access information on a job through to how we manage relationships with our customers.

That’s the same for all sectors, I have no doubt, but it is vital that we all move together with the times so that businesses don’t get left behind.

An issue that doesn’t always get discussed is the rental of concrete drilling and sawing machinery which causes tension between the professionals who are involved in our sector and the ad-hoc users who rent the machinery.

This is an issue that the IACDS can help to address and I would definitely like further discussion on this in 2018.

Should we look at the possibility of, as we see in other industries, a worldwide professional card that would cover professionals in the concrete and drilling sawing industry at a global level?

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