As Christmas approaches, it’s tempting to see the extended break as just a welcome holiday and a chance to recharge the batteries before the start of next year.

Whilst it’s certainly one of the few opportunities during the year when most of us get to genuinely relax without worrying too much about what is going on back at the office, I do still always try to use this break to take a dispassionate look at the business and to review how we could improve and do things even better.

I know the same is true for colleagues here too and there are always some very interesting conversations and meetings in January when we share our collective thoughts.  Hopefully, some of these will be translated into new initiatives which will benefit our customers in the New Year.

Certainly, I’d recommend encouraging everyone in the workforce to use the downtime to consider new strategies and tactics for 2012 – it’s going to be a challenging year.  For fabricators, this could mean thinking about the factory layout, pricing and sales strategy or even identifying new revenue streams.

When the day to day pressures of running the business are eased off even for a few days, it can be a great time to look at things from a fresh perspective.

I don’t want to put a damper on anyone’s festivities though and I’d like to use what will be my last blog of 2011 to wish all of Mila’s customers, suppliers, colleagues and even competitors a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

Richard