1. ECONOMIC UPDATE
Economic and
Market Overview
as at January 1st 2011
New Perspectives on
Mental Toughness - Get
Ready For The Year Ahead!
As many of you are aware I have had the pleasure of working with some of the world
leading sports psychologists. The ideas and insights we gain from these experiences are used to
develop our own ideas for team development, sales leadership and executive coaching; personally I also adapt them
in my own high performance athlete coaching at Ross Rowing Club.
Recent research has unearthed some excellent new thinking in this area which, as this momentous year draws to a
close, provides some food for thought on how we might address improving mental toughness in our working life.
Steve Bull was the England Cricket Team Sports Psychologist for 12 years and was recognised as ain integral part
of the team that helped the players win that incredible 2005 Ashes series. His book, The Game Plan, illustrates how
everyone can benefit from the learning taken from elite sport.
Steve suggests that we can break mental toughness down into four key types.
1. Turn-Around Toughness - how we cope with the peak and troughs that life and work brings us. He suggests that
when our confidence is low or when we are faced with a set back we should draw on reminders and examples
of previous success to rekindle our personal energy. The attributes and approach that created previous success
can be leveraged to create future success
2. Critical Moment Toughness - examines how well we cope with those stressful business moments such as a key
presentation, or key sales meeting. The top tips in managing this are to; only focus on what you can control and
support this with effective goal setting, followed by an improved awareness of the quality of positive language and
visualisation has on your performance. Be conscious of how you deliver, to whom you are delivering and what you
aim to achieve before ‘going out to bat’.
3. Endurance Toughness, or resilience - Steve promotes the importance of the link between physical health and mental
resilience. If you are tired and run down, sooner or later mental focus will be detrimentally impacted, and inevitably
performance will drop. Invest in your own well-being, with small regular activity sessions and pay attention to what
you eat. At the same time invest time in establishing and sustaining a positive outlook.
4. Risk Management Toughness – Steve quotes Professor John Kotter from the Harvard Business School “Lifelong
learners take risks. Much more than others these men and women push themselves out of their comfort zones ad
try new ideas. While most of us become set in our ways, they keep experimenting”. So seek out new challenges,
try new approaches – reserve some real time to something ‘new’ – as the saying goes ‘if you do what you have
always done, you will get what you have always got’ – in the year ahead as we look to pull clear of recession,
opportunities will be available, take them.
At Rocket we are constantly looking to translate the learning from elite performance and make it relevant and
applicable to our business customers. We are constantly asked for support in personal coaching and it is from
these resources along with our industry awareness that we can help you harness this best practice to impact
your performance and that of your business. If we can help, we are ready to answer your call!
On behalf of my colleagues, let me take this opportunity of thanking
the many of you for your support thoughout 2010 and we wish
you a very prosperous 2011.
Best Wishes Ian Howell
Email: ian@rocketperformance.co.uk

2. ECONOMIC UPDATE
Key Economic Data Summary
as at 23/12/10
CPI (Nov) 3.3% Up 0.1% this month.
RPI (Nov) 4.7% Up 0.2%% this month.
Employment Qtr to Oct 2010 70.6% Down 0.1 on the quarter Consumer Focus is on Debt
Repayment (BBA 23/12/10)
Unemployment Qtr to Oct 2010 7.9% Up 0.1 on the quarter Despite some increase in the growth rate for
GDP Growth/Shrinkage Qtr3 +0.7% Revised downwards (22/12) GDP in the 3rd qtr other loans, demand for unsecured credit overall
of 2010 is now 2.7% higher than 3rd qtr of 2009 remained weak, contracting by 1.6% over the
past year. It appears that consumers are
BoE Base Rate 0.5% As of 05/03/09 (no change this month). focussing upon reducing their debt, something
LIBOR (GBP 3M BBA) 0.7544 Marginally up on the last report underlined by a rise in personal deposits of 5.6%
over the past year.
Crude Oil $90.66 a barrel Prices rising significantly in December Mortgages- Gross mortgage lending of £7.8bn
in November was 13.5% lower than a year ago.
Gold $1384.86 per oz. Prices falling on previous report Net mortgage lending increased by £1.5bn
November, the lowest increase since August
1999, compared to £3.4bn in the same month
National House Price Index Nov 2010 in 2009.
Credit Cards – the number of credit card
(source Lloyds Banking Group as at 09/12/10) purchases were 0.8% higher in November
Annual change 0.7% compared with a year ago in line with the 1.1%
increase reported in retail sales volumes.
Quarterly change 2.1%
Repayment levels are higher and more than
Monthly change 0.1%% matching new spending levels, so the stable
Average price £164,708 growth in card borrowing largely reflects interest
accruing.
Personal Loan Rates (as of 23/12/10) - Rates Personal Loans - Although demand for personal
sourced from lenders websites on 23/12/10 - Based upon £5K (unless loans continued to be weak, new borrowing was
noted) over 36 months ex insurance and subject to underwriting some 5.3% higher than a year earlier.
New Car Sales Falling (SMMT)
Lender APR Notes New car registrations for November were
down by 11.5% compared with November 2009,
Sainsbury's Finance 8.7% No change suggesting consumers aren’t flocking to
Tesco Personal Finance 8.7% No change buy new cars before the 20% VAT rate arrives
Santander UK 8.9% New rate for lower advance on 1 January 2011. The total of new car
Post Office 8.9% No change registrations for November was 139,875 – down
by 11.5% compared with the 158,082
Nat West/RBS 12.9% No change (NW & RBS customers only) registrations in the same month in 2009.
M&S 12.9% Borrowers have to be a UK resident aged 30 November was the fifth consecutive month of
or over or a house owner decline for the new car market following the
Halifax 19.9% No change, Halifax customers only closure of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme in
HSBC (Flexi loan) 16.9% New lower rate this month May. However, the new car market remains 3.4%
up over the first 11 months of the year -
Lloyds TSB Rates available only upon request at 1,907,029 units compared with 1,844,063
Barclays Bank 10.9% New higher rate (Barclays on line customers only) for the same period in 2009.
Clydesdale / Yorkshire Bank 13.9% No change this month Although private car buyers don't seem to be
AA Personal Loans 8.9% Loans available from £7.5k to £14.95k reacting to the impending VAT increase, fleet
managers do. Sales of company cars grew by
Co-Op Bank 12.9% No change 6% last month, as firms rallied to beat the tax
rise.
Mortgage Costs - Standard Variable VAT
Rates (SVR) (as of 23/12/10) The standard rate will rise from 17.5% to 20%
from 4 January next year.
Rates sourced lenders websites on 30/11/10 - rates may be subject to value levels and underwriting.
House Prices will Fall 2% in 2011 (Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors 22/12/10)
Lender SVR Comments
or equivalent A shortage of supply is expected to prop up
prices at the start of 2011, with prices stabilising
Lloyds Banking Group is increasing its standard variable rate (SVR) to 3.9% for
Halifax 3.5% new mortgage customers on its Halifax brand from the new year in the first half of the year and could be rising
Standard Mortgage Rate (SMR) is 3.99% however Nationwide customers with again by the end of 2011.
Nationwide BS 3.99% (SMR) 2.5% (BMR) deals reserved on or before 29 April 2009 will revert to the variable Base Mortgage
Rate (BMR) which is currently 2.5%
Santander UK 4.24% RICs forecasts:
Lloyds TSB/C&G 2.5% Only applies to current customers at the natural end of mortgage applied for
before 01/06/10 House prices to fall 2% (but not more than 5%)
3.99% For customers applying for a mortgage after 01/06/10
Northern Rock 4.79% The loyalty rate is 4.54%
Property transactions to remain flat and low at
900,000
Barclays (Woolwich) 2.68%-3.69% Rate dependent upon mortgage product
RBS/Nat West 1.99%-3.59% Rate dependent upon mortgage product Mortgages to remain tight
HSBC 3.94% Repossessions down from 36,000 to 33,000

3. Property News (source Lloyds Banking Group (09/12/10)
ECONOMIC UPDATE
Prices in the three months to November were 2.1% lower than in the
preceding three months. The rate of decline, however, is significantly lower
than the quarterly rate of decline of -5% to -6% during the second half of
2008. House price data on a quarterly basis provides a clearer indication
of the overall market trends, smoothing out the volatility caused by the
reduced number of monthly transactions in all house prices indices’ monthly
figures.
Prices in November were 2.4% lower than at the end of 2009.
In Marketing, Public
House prices are now marginally lower than a year ago. Prices in November Relations, Training &
were 0.7% lower on an annual basis as measured by the average for the Development
latest three months against the same period a year earlier. This was the and Corporate
first annual decline since November 2009 and continues the recent downward Development
trend from a high of 6.9% in May. Our three distinct business
House prices in November were 6.5% higher than in April 2009. Despite disciplines share one
the recent downturn, prices remain above the trough reached in spring 2009. common goal - to give our
The average price is now £164,708; £10,045 higher than in April 2009. clients a performance
edge
The low interest rate environment has reduced the burden of servicing
mortgage debt. Typical mortgage payments for a new borrower have fallen After many years in
from a peak of 48% of average disposable earnings in mid 2007 to corporate business
29% in 2010 Quarter 3. This key measure of affordability is at a better level leadership, we struggled to
than the long-term average over the past 25 years (37%) and is an important find the type of results
factor supporting housing demand. focused, entrepreneurial
people who could make the
Housing market activity is softening. Bank of England industry-wide figures type of positive contributions
show that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase we were looking for to drive
– a leading indicator of completed house sales – continued on its gentle our businesses forward.
downward trend, falling for the sixth successive month in October. The People who were
number of approvals in October (47,200) was 5% lower than in April (49,700). knowledgeable, energetic,
The ending of the stamp duty holiday on properties between £125,000 and results focused and fun to
£175,000 at the end of 2009 boosted the number of approvals during 2009 work with, people we could
Quarter 4. This will have an adverse impact on annual comparisons over trust as friends.
the next couple of months. To create such a support
service was our goal and
UK Growth Revised Downwards (ONS 22/12/10) now seven years on we
The UK economy grew less than previously estimated between July and September, revised continue to grow remaining
figures have shown. The Office for National Statistics said UK GDP grew 0.7% in the third true to this original vision.
quarter, down from its earlier estimate of 0.8%. It also cut the growth figure for the April- Across the UK, Europe and
to-June quarter to 1.1% from 1.2%, and the first quarter growth figure to 0.3% from 0.4%. beyond we are proud to be
The revisions were blamed upon weaker growth in the construction, business services and making a valued
manufacturing sectors. contribution to the
The year-on-year growth estimate was also cut, with the ONS saying that GDP in the third businesses and above all
quarter had grown by 2.7% compared with the same point last year, down from the previous people with whom we work.
estimate of 2.8%. From training and
Economic Forecasts for 2011 development, through public
relations and marketing and
Bank of England's Base rate has been held at 0.5% since March 2009. With the CPI inflation on to major corporate
rate remaining above the government's 2% target by one percentage point or more for 12 development we are
months, there have been calls for a rise in base rates from one of the Money Policy Committee delighted to share our
members; however another has called for further Quantitative easing measures. However,
eight MPC members voted for both rates and QE to stay unchanged. The expectation that
expertise, energy and
base rates will be held at their historic low rates for the foreseeable future until there are
results focus.
firm signs of a sustained economic recovery, but worries about inflation will continue to place We love what we do and our
pressure on this position. passion comes through in
The CBI business group expects growth of 0.2% in the first quarter of next year, down from everything we do.
their previous forecast of 0.3%. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is predicting the
economy will expand by 1.9% in 2011, but this is down from the 2.2% growth it forecast in "We Bring Focus to
September. The BCC has also blamed the eurozone debt crisis and the weak housing Deliver Results"
market.
The Rocket Performance Group
Rocket Marketing Associates Rocket Training & Development Rocket Corporate Development
Lanark, Scotland Ross-on-Wye Beaconsfield
Email: info@rocketperformance.co.uk www.rocketperformance.co.uk
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recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher Rocket Performance Group. This report has been created to provide a summary overview of the market environment
for property development. All information is believed to be correct at the time of publication, in so far as it summarises the topics at a very high level it cannot be guaranteed. Please
note that all information is provided in good faith, whose accuracy we are not always in a position to guarantee. As such Rocket Performance Group can accept no liability whatsoever
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