Well, nothing but good news from the stock markets and house prices (unless you are a first time buyer) and the number of visitors to www.optionsfit.com has doubled in he past month.

We have also seen a healthy upturn in the level of enquiries and requests for appointments.

The new enquiries seem pretty even across fitted bedrooms, home offices and living rooms.  Some even from new home owners and plenty of  people embarking on new portfolio careers that involve working from home.

Is the recession over or is it going to be a double dip? There is an expert out there espousing every possible outcome so there will be plenty of gurus claiming ‘I told you so’ whatever the result.

Still we are looking forward to a bouyant run up to Christmas and we certainly learned some useful lessons about the need and opportunties for divesification during the lean months. We are now well in to the market for bespoke reception desks and custom made commercial kitchens.

After a great extended summer break I am now back at my desk and pleased to report that the level of enquiries has started to build from the rather flat, recessionary level before I left.

My first new appointment was with a really nice couple way out in Essex who were looking for high gloss wardrobes and a dressing table. They had had quotations from Hammonds and another company but could not get exactly what they wanted and would have had to compromise on sizes in a rather small bedroom where storage space is at a premium.

They were surprised that I was able to  say yes to every one of there requests but expressed reservations about the level of finish on our high gloss lacquer. However, we were able to produce a sample that they considered perfect and, as usual we kept back a control sample to ensure that what they get is exactly what they expect.

The only snag proved to be that our genuinely custom made product proved to be a bit more expensive than the off the shelf cabinets that our competitors claim is bespoke.

I have given them my best shot and await their decision, but I doubt that they will get exactly what they want from any other fitted bedroom company for less than Options price.

More later