For the last few years in January  I’ve posted some thoughts on the year that’s past, and on the year ahead, and I planned to do the same again.

However, this year it’s proved to be more difficult than I thought! Twenty sixteen was a year of huge change, which has left the world in such a profound state of uncertainty, that only an “idiot” would try and draw any conclusions on what it all means or where it’s all going. Indeed, my overwhelming feeling is that many people would prefer a “do over” of 2016, rather than face the uncertainty of 2017 ….. which of course is less than helpful!

But in an attempt to give us all something to think about I would like to point you to a US National Intelligence Council Publication entitled “Global Trends 2030: Alternate Worlds” https://publicintelligence.net/global-trends-2030/  . It was published in 2012, which probably makes it even more interesting now. In particular, it puts forward 4 alternate worlds in which we might live come 2030. Four years on their “Stalled Engine” scenario, seem particularly prescient. They didn’t get everything right (in their scenario Europe’s collapse was triggered by Greek’s exit from the Euro), but the picture they paint is chillingly familiar.

However, on a brighter note, the Cashroom grew throughout 2016, and no doubt will continue to grow through 2017. This year we have a lot planned.

  • In January we will go through our yearly Cyber Security Audit. I know this is a “hot topic” for many of you and it is for us too.
  • In March we’re attending the LegalEx conference in London, the first of a number of events we’ll be attending
  • We’re also running a number of evening events across the UK for our “friends” and contacts
  • We have a number of more formal seminars planned throughout the year, covering topics from cyber security to preparing for regulatory inspections
  • We will continue to try and send you interesting and informative articles and thoughts as we come across them. Our last email bulleting had a 76% open rate, so we must be doing something right!
  • And finally, during 2017 we hope to move all our existing clients onto our bespoke client portal, which will revolutionise the way we communicate with our clients. More on this shortly.

An exciting year ahead.

David Calder
Managing Director