The market remains pretty much the same as it has done for the last six months and probably will do for the next two years:.....a steady stream of buyers, and a solid level of sales provided that asking prices and vendor expectations are sensible.

The Leisure and Retail sectors remain extremely challenging and with the seismic shifts happening in those sectors I doubt that things will ever be the same.

As for Day Nursery sector there was an alarming suggestion in the papers recently by OFSTED that the free childcare subsidy should become means-tested. I think that such an idea would be hugely damaging to the childcare industry and should be resisted at all costs. These people in the civil service seem to exist in a parallel universe and simply don’t seem to understand the financial constraints under which the vast majority of parents are already labouring when it comes to paying for their childcare!

On the good news front we are seeing increasing levels of borrowing as the major banks slowly emerge from rebuilding their balance sheets and some but not all, are starting to lend more freely. We are also much busier with viewings and offers at this traditionally quiet time of year than in previous years which hopefully bodes well for the new year.

Deals however remain tough to do and are often taking many weeks to complete. You as vendors and we as agents have to have the patience of a saint to put up with the seemingly endless and annoying demands of purchasers and their lenders!

I read with interest Vince Cable's suggestion last week that the government should establish a "People's Bank" to fund business and kick start the economy. Hang on Vince I thought we already owned two banks with well-known brands, large capital asset bases, hundreds of branches and thousands of employees - they're called RBS and Lloyds. Rather than being in thrall to bankers, perhaps the government should instead start exercising its powers as a shareholder and get those two banks to start lending more to business!

I would expect the market to pick up noticeably now the Paralympics has finished. We are now seeing the government enter the second half of their term in office and consequently I am sure that they will be doing everything they can to stimulate the economy to ensure that by election time, things will be bubbling along. However I believe that the fundamental issue is that unless consumer confidence returns in force, no matter how much money the government puts into the economy, things will remain muted. This is something of a paradox in that on the one hand the banks and the government are telling us that debt is bad and we all need to pull in our belts and yet if the consumer doesn’t start spending again the economy will remain flat. For me, this paradox therefore points to a fundamental rebalancing of the economy where we will see lower levels of spending as a long term trend and I guess we all need to get used to that. Property prices outside London will also therefore remain flat or possibly negative for a number of years until the average house price equals roughly 4 times the average income.
There will also be another significant shift in the coming years as more baby boomers retire and either sell their businesses (if they own one) or buy a business to support their pensions. One trend that is already happening in Australasia is groups of retirees clubbing together to buy a business and to bring in a younger working partner who owns a share of the business and actually runs the business on a day to day basis, while using the knowledge and experience and cash of the retirees as and when required. TI believe that this is a very interesting development in business sales and given the poor returns from traditional pension investments, I suspect that these sorts of buying groups could be making an appearance in the UK in the near future.

Sold! Marlborough Day Nursery in Coalville

Amberglobe are delighted to announce the recent sale of Marlborough Day Nursery located in Coalville, Leicestershire. This was a rare thriving management run high profile Children's Day Nursery which boasted an 'Outstanding' Ofsted rating and an annual fee income in the region of £575,000 with healthy profits to match. Included within the sale were several valuable freehold properties. The now former owners Gail and Peter Hodgson comment:   "From the moment we met with you Nick, we knew you and your company were the right people to use to sell our day nursery.  Your enthusiasm and experienced guidance helped the transaction process run very smoothly.  We would be more than happy to recommend you to anyone thinking of selling a day nursery. Thanks again for your help" http://www.amberglobe.co.uk/UK-Business-Sold-by-Amberglobe-High-Profile-Thriving-D-Nursery-ref-2539

Wedding/Events Florists in Oxford sells

Amberglobe are pleased to announce the sale of this established thriving Event/Wedding Florists which specialises in providing an extensive range of floral designs for weddings, large corporate events, fashion shows through to individual parties and for numerous local businesses and hotels etc. With an impressive annual turnover of £223,000 and low overheads, this is an ideal venture for an enthusiastic new owner operatorhttp://www.amberglobe.co.uk/UK-Business-Sold-by-Amberglobe-Wedding-Event-Florists-ref-2478. The business has been acquired by a first time buyer looking to expand into this industry.

Amberglobe instructed to sell Supermarket in Spain

Amberglobe have recently been instructed to sell this established high turnover supermarket which is located close to Malaga in Spain. The business has been built up over the years and is now a thriving Supermarket which boasts annual sales of 570,000 euros. With a realistic annual rent and the scope and potential for enthusiastic new owners to continue to grow the business this could be the perfect opportunity to live the dream! http://www.amberglobe.co.uk/High-Turnover-C-Store-in-Spain-ref-2579

With Team GB riding high and the Olympics following closely on the heels of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, the market has been quieter for longer than normal during the traditional summer holiday season. I do not expect things to change during August although barring any serious damage in the Eurozone I believe that things will improve considerably in September. Assuming that GB continues its winning ways in the Olympics I expect the country to be riding on a massive high once the holidays are over.
However August will be a testing month for the Eurozone and the financial markets have lost patience with the way the crisis has been handled to date. My personal view is that Greece will be left to fend for itself and will declare bankruptcy but without leaving the Euro. Germany will continue to refuse to pick up the tab for Spain and Italy and the crisis will only go away once the European Central Bank is authorised to undertake quantitative easing and start buying back the debts of Spain & Italy, as has happened in the UK and America.
On the local financial scene I was talking with our finance broker the other day and asking him whether commercial debt was difficult to obtain. His response was that purchasers can always get the finance for a business purchase provided that (a) they are not over-geared and (b) they ask the right person. If a purchaser tries to get finance from their local bank manager then the chances of success are very low as those guys are programmed to take no risk and protect their own jobs and pensions! Please rest assured we spend a lot of time trying to persuade our purchasers to talk with our finance broker because the money is out there you just need the right person on your team to find it.