Q. Are you surprised that oil prices have continued to fall despite the Russian-Georgian crisis?

A. No. I see the current situation as a micro-crisis and it is a problem that should be solved quickly. Differences between states always vary but are normally closely linked – sadly, as is often the case with conflict of this nature, innocent civilians have suffered, but this would seem to be an internal struggle rather than a war between sovereign states.

I would be surprised if the "growing pains" of Georgia affect the rest of Europe, although one cannot ignore the BP reduction in supply of oil. Unstable situations often interrupt oil supply and this would seem to be no exception.

Reduction in oil pumping in Georgia should not, in my opinion, influence global prices.


Q. With inflation creeping towards five per cent, how will this particularly impact on your firm?

A. I believe that the management team of GKL will steer carefully away from ventures that are directly affected by inflationary pressures, although we do have a division of the group that builds residential units.

We are being offered heavily discounted land right now which has outline planning permission so we may buy more while the market is inexpensive. That said, I do think that we may defer the construction of some of our house building projects until a later date.

The leadership team is reviewing market conditions daily and it is foreseeable that some of our resources will be redeployed to deliver more houses for our housing association partners who continue to have funds to invest.


Q. How have you trimmed your spending in the wake of the economic downturn?

A. Our business as a whole is not influenced by any one market force, and it is for this reason we are weathering the current trading conditions fairly well (we have 14 different trading companies in the group, all of which offer different services to our customers).

Our focus, presently, is on taking time to identify and realise further operational process gains while the construction markets are quiet, coupled with developing new relationships with housing associations and investing in our demolition capability.