Festive Greetings! And our predictions for the new year are….

I would like to wish everyone, particularly our customers and partners a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas break with their families and friends.

For our last blog of 2015, I wanted to reflect on the year which is closing, doff my “Nostradamus” cap and make some predictions for 2016.

Over the last year our team have helped make our clients buildings more financially and environmentally sustainable, saving many millions of pounds and tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon. Our aim is to make our clients buildings as productive as possible improving the return on their built assets. You can read our newsletter which summarises a little of our work and achievements of the last year, of which my team and I are very proud.

Turning to 2016 I have the following predictions;

• Despite the low cost of Brent crude, currently trading at $35 a barrel compared to $50 this time last year, the cost of residential and commercial utility bills will continue their march upward because of the demand, supply imbalance of the UK grid’s and the future investment required to keep our lights on. Oil will finish 2016 at circa $55 per barrel.
• With billions of private money invested in nuclear fusion we are likely to see a significant commercial break through before the end of 2016 bringing us a step closer to a fuel source that could prove to be cheap, inexhaustible, and clean.
• The UK economy will continue to grow, interest rates will rise before the end of the year and the UK electorate will get their promised EU referendum voting to remain in, when faced with the economic consequences of exiting.
• And finally I see no let-up in the pressure to do more with less for both the public and private sector through 2016 and the full length of the next Parliament.

As usual I will look back in our first blog of 2017 and reveal how accurate my predictions were.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and look forward to working with you in 2016.

Over the next year LCMB will continue to invest in building our team and innovative approach to help our clients make their buildings more productive, financially and environmentally sustainable. Contact John if you would like to discuss how our talented team can help you make your buildings and estates work harder for your organisation.