Sad I know, but it is fascinating looking back at previous issues of the magazine to see what the mood of the industry was in a particular year – indeed in a particular decade the ‘90s.

1990 (25 years ago ouch!) it was two shows going head to head when IOG moved their show to Peterborough, and the industry decided to stage its own GMA Show at Kempton Park (for one year only it transpired).

1992 B&Q markets a £99 petrol rotary (a seismic moment).

1994 BAGMA, as it was then, implodes – and becomes part of British Hardware Federation.

1996 On the dealer front, Flymo close Cheshire Light Tractors only for it to re-open as Cheshire Turf Machinery under Steve Halley and colleagues.

1998 Two companies dominated the newspages during much of the ‘90s. Greg Hutchins (buns to guns) Tomkins Group, owners of Hayter and Murray, and of course the Ransomes saga. In 1993, that  prompted one of the most memorable quotes from the Daily Mail “A Panzer division of financial institutions yesterday lost patience with Ransomes, parked their tanks on the lawn and opened fire on the boardroom”.  In 1998, Ransomes was purchased by Textron.

Weather in the ‘90s saw a long, hot dry summer in 1995 result in the closure of several high profile dealers (Kingston House, Chaplins) whilst a wet summer in 1998 resulted in the best mower selling season for 10 years.   

As we approached the new Millenium, in January 1999 we hosted a Round Table of dealers and manufacturers to come up with a Manifesto for the Millennium. Involved were the likes of Peter Rochford, Duncan Martin (then Mountfield/Westwood), Brian Goudie (md of distributor A M Russell), Simon Thompson (Marketing manager Honda UK), Richard Smith (then md Wolf Garden) and Yorkshire dealer, Philip Mason.

All the talk was about the relationship with the ‘sheds’. No mention of the internet (well hardly), an industry with too much in-fighting; poor dealer/manufacturer relationships – in fact although just 15 years ago - it almost seems like another age.

However, there was one strong common theme that ran through the discussion. Almost nothing else matters – but the consumer.  What they want, when they want it, and how they want to buy it.  

The questions may be the same, but the answers today are likely to be substantially different to those in 2000. I was once involved in an industry Long Term Planning group. But what is long term today? Ten years, five years, one year? I guess the answer is to keep your finger on the pulse because just when one trend arrives, it is replaced by another – and largely dictated by the likes of Apple.

Now anybody want to buy a fax? (the telex went earlier).