……… Of course, one of the hot topics of conversation with everyone was fuel, though not just the price of it, but the ripple effect of it, the deepening of the cost-of-living crisis, and the effect it is having on businesses in our industry.

Everyone is talking about it, it’s on every tv channel, it’s on every social feed. While we might be on the other side of the planet, the ripple effect of what’s going on in the Middle East is being felt here, particularly at the bowser. Now I’m not making light of war, and the plight of those at the centre of it, and I am certainly not going to get into a political debate over it, but I am going to address how it is affecting the pool and spa industry. The pain at the bowser - the increased fuel costs and in some cases fuel shortages. And unfortunately its only just started.

There was a point in time, where this saying reflected how I was running our business. Like so many of us, I was so busy working in the business, getting stuff done, keeping the wheels in motion – or the plates spinning. I was like the hamster on the wheel – running flat out but getting nowhere.