Returning from the Far East, I found there is no doubt the chill wind of recession is catching us. We have seemed remarkably immune up until now, but always knew it would be extraordinary if we did not start to suffer like many of our competitors, whose pain has preceded ours.

There is an interesting article here on the longer term outlook. It is somewhat depressing to read but right now no-one could tell you how near, or far, from the truth it might turn out to be.

A commentator in today's FT says, in these days of 'viral marketing', "a trouble shared on the internet is not a problem halved. It is a trouble needlessly multiplied all over the world." Well potentially yes, but it is as well to keep abreast of current thinking. To enable one to plan for the future, one has to keep an eye on the trends.

Since January's return to work, we have experienced Interim Management assignments curtailed and Executive Search assignments cancelled. This is the reality and as the Vice Chairman of Chrysler said in a CNN interview recently, we all have to face up to the current 'state of the nation' - not what was, or might be in the future. We have to be fit for the 'here and now'.

In anticipation of hard times coming, in early 2008 we streamlined our business, cut costs and improved every aspect of candidate registration, management and selection significantly. History has vindicated what at the time, seemed tough decisions. As well as becoming more operationally efficient, our balance sheet and liquidity ratio have never been better than they are now, and that gives us some buffer against this climate, but we need to be vigilant about making further savings wherever we can.

FDR famously said we have nothing to fear but fear itself and as an optimist I like to subscribe to that mantra. This time next year, and the year after, we will all be eating food, clothing our families, viewing televisions and still travelling (Easy Jet reported improved results in January along with Sainsbury and John Lewis!). Interim Managers are an unrivalled source of ability for identifying the future for what products, which markets, how to get them there through the supply chain and then stock them, merchandise them and make profit from them. This is the message we have to get out loud and clear. It is a message we have got out effectively in China, where journalists I met were fascinated how Interim Managers can, for instance, help toy factories adapt, rather than face closure (famously 50% have recently closed). There are always winners and losers in life - our message is that those companies that use your expertise, are more likely to be winners. 100% of the toy factories won't close - using your talents can make the difference.

Our drive to spread our wings internationally since early 2008, to offset UK economic blues, and continue our uninterrupted growth, is proving successful. We are handling assignments in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Bulgaria and following our alliance in Thailand announced in last month's bulletin, I am going back to the Far East in March having already returned with over £200,000 of potential business. The seed is sowed and needs watering. And it is not as if nothing is going on back here in UK - we have some great news coming through from clients, old and new. So if you ask me 'is it time to hang up my hat and retire?' I would be inclined to say it is only time to go away for a long weekend. There are still opportunities out there and it will recover.

In December's bulletin, I spoke about the 'experience economy' as one of our marketing principles. The TED talk by Joseph Pine is now available on line through this link

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. And in a downturn when everyone seems 'buying resistant' it is easy to think that playing safe is a good thing to do. I don't agree - safe is risky! Safe just does not get you noticed. Marketing guru Seth Godin agrees and spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones. Watch the clip here. You need to stand out from the crowd. This is why Brooklands is taking risk, pushing in the Far East where Interim Management is less well known and so far, is grabbing people's attention. We were featured across all of China's main news media in print, on line and on TV last week - that's a billion more people who just heard about Brooklands Executives and Interim Management.

Keep the faith and Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox to you all.

Yours sincerely,

A very Happy New Year to you all. Santa delivers his presents in Spain on 6th January - if he is in the mood to revisit the UK, maybe he could pull some assignments out of his sack for us all. In case not, I am currently in the Far East trying to rustle up some work for you. I am pleased to say as a result, we have a new alliance in Thailand with a major firm with 300 blue chip clients who will now be made aware of the Brooklands capability. It will take time to bear fruit but we will do everything in our ability to make it deliver assignments as soon as possible. Tomorrow I fly onto Hong Kong, then Shanghai, with numerous meetings already scheduled.

We are trying to find assignments in the UK too. In mid-December we mailed 20,000 of these promotional postcards to some clean new data we acquired. Take a look - they highlight your corporate recovery and turnaround expertise. It also went to 70,000 other people by e-shot.

We sent an e-shot directed specifically at the problems being faced by the Charity sector to 60,000 contacts there. See the message here.

In January we are mailing a different postcard to the same 20,000 targets - building on our Brooklands brand recognition and advocating the case for Interim Executives. It was Karl Marx who said 'repetition is the beginning of education' and in the spirit of that, we have to keep pushing the message home onto potential users of your skills.

Last month one of you raised the issue with me of whether we had considered more targeted e-shots rather than 'carpet bombing' everyone. Good point! In fact the data we used has 'double opted in' to receive e-shots that deal with HR, Recruitment or Interim Management issues specifically.

If you are experienced in the Oil & Gas market but have not yet alerted Simon Marchant-Jones to that, please email him here. He is chasing targets in the UK and overseas.

Similarly if you have experience of the hospitality sector and fancy an interim assignment or permanent role in the United Arab Emirates, email Stephen Goldman here highlighting your relevant experience. We will then pass your details onto our alliance partners there to promote your talents. It is still a growth market despite the negative press there has been recently about the property bubble in the region.

If you have experience of doing work in China or Thailand, please email me a brief case study (if you have not already done so) of what you did, for whom and what the outcome was. It is important we promote some seasoned Interim Executives onto targeted businesses with clear examples of work they have done in the past in the region. For example some of you sent me case studies of work you have done in the Air Ground Services sector, which we have used as a tool for a direct approach to Thailand Air Ground Services (TAGS) who are growing internationally with new contracts in Africa and the Middle East.

Last month we shared some great material from the TED community with you, the Brooklands community. We emphasised the need for you to differentiate yourself by giving your clients a Great Experience - your own 'Experience Economy'. Tweak your 'product' to be as close a match as possible for the particular nature of the opportunities you find - Spaghetti Sauce comes in many flavours to broaden it's appeal. Learn new skills to keep up to date - if a bonobo monkey can learn new things so can you.

Well this month I want to emphasise how important it is for you to be highly effective at pitching for work in a competitive world. From time to time some of you get involved in raising VC funds for clients as a specific objective of your assignment. Now it might be harder than ever to get them to part with their funds, so I hope you find this month's TED talk helpful - 'Ten things to know before you pitch to a VC for money'.In fact this talk has lots of great tips for doing powerful presentations of any kind, so take a look. It might help you win your next assignment pitch.

A very happy New Year to you all.

If you have specific experience of any kind in the Oil and Gas market, please email Simon Marchant-Jones to highlight your experience, even if you are not currently hunting for an assignment - you might be in the future. He is mounting a particular campaign in this sector. Whilst the oil price has fallen recently, they have retained profits from past prices around $150 a barrel and given Russia's behaviour, investing in energy supplies is a political imperative - so we believe the sector still has legs on it both at home and abroad. Click HERE to email him directly.

Talking to our Brooklands community of professional Interim Executives, signals are mixed about how the crunch is hitting our sector. Some of you have told us you are finding no opportunities at all and yet others that the world is still alive with opportunity and you are able to pick and choose your assignments. What makes that difference I wonder?

In the permanent Executive Search market there is a dramatic slowdown. We hear ('allegedly' - in case the figures I have are not quite right), that Odgers downsized by 55 staff in the UK in October and Korn Ferry just let go 25% of their team worldwide - (they are number 1 in the UK and number 1 in the world respectively)

So what differentiates the successful from the under-utilised? What are we to do in the face of this chaos and extraordinary phenomenon, where the economy continues to fall off the cliff edge like never before? You can take an extended holiday whilst waiting for the upturn (nice if you can afford it, since there are great travel deals to be done). Or hunker down and sit in the 'slough of despond' as dear old John Bunyan would say. Or fight back and develop strategies for winning - and that, I believe, is the differentiator.

To focus on how you can fight back, you need some optimism to start with. If we can help you work up that head of steam in some small way, then it will be a pleasure to assist.

As some of you know, I have the great privilege to be a 'TEDster' - part of a Global community of about 1,000 people involved in the TED project. This annual conference of thought leaders brings together inspirational people from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design - hence TED.

In the last couple of years we have expanded TED with TED Global, running a conference in the UK and then Africa. The on-line access to the inspirational TED talks is now fully on stream.

So, back to the point about how do you fight back in this climate? Give your clients a great experience - many of your competitors will only give them an average one. I was inspired by a great TED talk given by Joseph Pine on his book 'The Experience Economy'. We have used these lessons in Brooklands ever since, in our brand development and operational execution every day. You can buy a copy of the book through Amazon. It inspired us to ensure we try to give every candidate who passes through our hands, and every prospective client, a view of Brooklands that marks us out as better than average in this competitive world. We don't score 100% of course, but it guides our behaviour right down to individual team member level. It is a value of the company everyone subscribes to.

And thanks to my fellow TEDsters for some more great inspiration about differentiation:

Remember you are Spaghetti Sauce. Humans are immensely variable - you might only be you, but discovering how to package your 'one product company' differently, to grab different opportunities, is vital to leave no stone unturned in finding assignments. One size does not fit all. Watch the talk by the fantastic Malcolm Gladwell HERE.

Apes that write, start fires and play pac-man. Release you inner ape - learn new skills, entertain and deliver - it is an expression of your personal 'experience economy'. Believe in your ability to learn new skills to keep your game up high and give your colleagues pleasure, delivering a memorable and lasting positive impression of working with you. Watch THIS - you won't forget it!

We distribute these TED talks to you under a Creative Commons License - Attribution, NonCommercial, NonDerivative.

And so it's Christmas again, coming round faster every year it seems. Thank you to all those of you that worked with us this year - you were a credit to your profession. To those we have not worked with in a while, or maybe never have, I hope we have the chance to do so in 2009 - with our expanded team we are knocking on more doors than ever for you. We close at lunchtime on 24th December and reopen on Friday 2nd January, but as always there is 24/7 cover throughout.

From all the team at Brooklands, we wish you a very peaceful and happy festive season.