At Rocket Performance Groupwe believe you can influencey o u r o w n s u c c e s s…..regardless of the marketconditions you operate in. Yesthe market is still a verydifferent place and yes somecompanies face very difficultchallenges as a result of thecredit crunch but few of us canafford to sit back and “just hopethings work out”.

Some of our clients have beenamongst the first to recognisethis and we are now helping themto secure new funding lines, findbusinesses and portfolios toacquire, re-shape business areasand develop new businesslines…many of our clients havenever been busier and I canconfidently predict they will beamongst the most successful of2010.

So what is it that makes themdifferent? What is it that makesus confident they will succeed?We would suggest that our moresuccessful organisations appearto have:

Taken stock of the currentconditionsClarified or modified their vision and objectivesEstablished a team work ethic with a clear sense ofpurposeEngrained a ‘can do’ attitudeBuilt and called upon alliesCreated clear measures ofsuccess

No surprises here then….. Wellno surpr ises but a fewchallenges…..just think about itand ask yourself “exactly whatwe would have to do to achieveeach of these traits”. Exactly howdo we move from where we areto where we need to be?

There are numerous solutionsand these differ for eacho r g a n i s a t i o n , b u t b yconcentrating on the “how”, anorganisation gives itself theopportunity to shape its owndestiny …..and then by “takingthe first step” it can move closerto achieving its vision andproducing results that are theenvy of its peers.

If you would like help to getstarted or to refine your approachin a particular area please feelfree to ask. We would be happyhelp.

To help our existing clients totake stock we developed theStrategy Toolkit, a collection of30 strategic planning tools aimedat helping you to assess yourposition in the current marketand to refine your strategic plans. This is provided as part of ourservice to existing clients and fora small fee to future clients.

The Toolkit is contained on singlememory stick, the size and shapeof a credit card, and provides arange of tools for you to selectfrom and use. For moreinformation or for a free trialplease feel free to contact me att h e f o l l o w i n g e m a i lneil@rocketperformancegroup.co.uk

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Economic andMarket Overviewas at March 1st 2010

Do you wait forthe market tothaw?Or do you defrostit for yourself?

Best Wishes

Neil Ward

Email:neil@rocketperformance.co.uk

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Lender Aug ‘09 CommentsSVR

Halifax 3.5%

Nationwide BS 2.5% Existing customers only

Santander UK 4.24% New Name for Abbey / A&L / 11/01/10

Lloyds TSB/C&G 2.5%

Northern Rock 4.79%

Barclays (Woolwich) 5% Calculated on Barclays base rate currently 5% plus 0.95%

RBS 4.00%

HSBC 3.94%

CPI 3.5% Up from 2.9% in December

RPI 3.7% Up from 2.4% in December

Employment 72.4% Down by 0.1% this quarter

Unemployment 7.8% Down by 0.1% this quarter

BoE Base Rate 0.5% As of 05/03/09 (no change this month)

LIBOR (GBP 3M BBA) 0.6425 Rates up marginally

Crude Oil $79.84 a barrel Prices rising this month

Gold $1096.50 per oz. Down slightly over the month.

Key Economic Data Summaryas at 26/02/10

Average House Price £169,777

Monthly Change 0.6%

Annual Change 3.6%

National House Price Index January2010 (source Lloyds Banking Group as at 04/02/10)

Lender APR NotesSainsbury's Finance 9.9% Higher rateTesco Personal Finance 8.9% No changeSantander UK 8.9% No changePost Office 9.9% No changeNat West/RBS 12.9% No change

M & S 12.9% Borrowers haveto be a UK resident aged 30or over or a house owner

Halifax 9.9% Loans available to existing Halifax customersonly. Minimum advance £7000

HSBC 9.9% Rate increased restrictions applyLloyds TSB 11.3% Min Advance £7500Barclays Bank 10.9% New higher rate for existing customers onlyClydesdale / Yorkshire Bank 13.9% No changeAA Personal Loans 8.9% to 15.3% Restrictions applyCo-Op Bank 12.9% No change

Personal Loan Rates (as of 26/02/10) - Basedupon £5K (unless noted) over 36 months ex insuranceand subject to underwriting

Mortgage Costs - Standard VariableRates (SVR) (as of 26/02/10)Please note these rates may be subject to deposits/loan to value levels and underwriting

Retail Sales Fall (ONS 19/02/10) butFebruary Bounces Back (CBI 26/02/10)

Poor winter weather drove UK retail salesdown by 1.8% between December andJanuary, the sharpest drop in 18 months,official figures have shown. The fall wasmore than three times faster than analystshad forecast. However the figures wereweighed down by the inclusion of petrolin the official figures for the first time asdrivers stayed at home in the snow. Thedata, from the Office for National Statistics,adds to concerns about the fragility of theUK economic recovery. Sales by valuewere up 0.9% from January 2009.

E n c o u r a g i n g l y, t h e q u a r t e r l yConfederation of British Industry (CBI)report has revealed shoppers returnedthe High Street in their droves in Februaryafter UK retailers reported their strongestgrowth in sales volumes for two years inearly February.

Complaints about financial servicesfirms rise (BBC 25/02/10)

The number of new complaints made tothe Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)about financial firms rose by 18% in thelast six months of 2009. The FOSreceived 82,136 complaints, up from69,841 in the first half of the year.However, the proportion of complaintsupheld by the ombudsman fell from 59%to 53%. The five biggest banking groupsaccounted for nearly 47,000 of the newcomplaints received by the FOS - 57% ofthe total. These were the Abbey (recentlyrenamed Santander), Barclays, HSBC,Lloyds and RBS groups, which includednot only their traditional High Street outletsbut also their subsidiaries dealing ininsurance and investments. As a result,thousands of complaints were made aboutthe banks' general insurance businesses,as well as about their banking and lendingarms.

Credit Card Rates at 12 Year High(15/02/10 Moneyfacts)

New research has revealed that millionsof credit card holders could face severedebts after card providers have put interestrates up to a 12-year high. The Bank ofEngland’s base rate has been at thehistorically low rate of 0.5% for almost ayear but despite this, average credit cardinterest rates have risen to over 18% -the highest level since 1998.

All Right Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,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 environmentfor 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. Pleasenote 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 whatsoeverfor actions taken based on any information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect. © Rocket Performance Group 2010

The Rocket Performance Group

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Rocket Marketing AssociatesLanark, Scotland

Rocket Training & DevelopmentRoss-on-Wye

Rocket Corporate DevelopmentBeaconsfield

Email: info@rocketperformance.co.uk www.rocketperformance.co.uk

In Marketing, Public Relations, Training & Developmentand Corporate Development

Our three distinct business disciplines share one common goal - to give our clients aperformance edge

After many years in corporate business leadership, we struggled to find the type of resultsfocused, entrepreneurial people who could make the type of positive contributions wewere looking for to drive our businesses forward. People who were knowledgeable,energetic, results focused and fun to work with, people we could trust as friends.

To create such a support service was our goal and now seven years on we continue togrow remaining true to this original vision. Across the UK, Europe and beyond we areproud to be making a valued contribution to the businesses and above all people withwhom we work. From training and development, through public relations and marketingand on to major corporate development we are delighted to share our expertise, energyand results focus.

We love what we do and our passion comes through in everything we do.

"We Bring Focus to Deliver Results"

House Price News (source Lloyds Banking 04/02/10)House prices increased by 0.6% in January. Prices rose for the seventhconsecutive month, but January's rise was the lowest during this period andwas significantly below the 1.1% average over the previous six months.

Prices have risen by 9.9% since reaching a low in April 2009; an increasein the average price of £15,287 over this period. This follows a decline of23% between August 2007 and April 2009. The average house price is now£169,777.

House prices in January were 3.6% higher on an annual basis. This is thelargest increase in the annual rate of change - measured by the average forthe latest three months against the same period a year earlier – sinceFebruary 2008. The comparable rate a year ago was –17.2%.

Housing market activity continues to pick up albeit from a low base. Housesales in England and Wales in October were 34% higher than a year earlier,according to the latest Land Registry figures. Bank of England industry-widefigures show that the number of mortgages approved to finance housepurchase – a leading indicator of completed house sales – in the final threemonths of 2009 was significantly up on the number in the same period ayear earlier (176,517 against 91,221). This was despite a marginal monthlyfall (-1.7%) in December; the first decline since November 2008. Approvalswere still 22% lower than in December 2007.

Low mortgage rates have reduced the burden of servicing mortgage debt.Nationally, typical mortgage payments for a new borrower have fallen froma peak of 48% of average disposable earnings in 2007 Quarter 3 to 32% in2009 Quarter 4.

Low supply of properties for sale has been another factor pushing up houseprices. There are, however, some signs that the improvement in marketconditions since last spring is leading more homeowners to try to sell theirproperty. Instructions to sell increased for the seventh successive monthin December, helping to increase the stock of properties available for sale. (Source: RICS monthly survey, December 2009.)

Banks Report Results (various to 26/02/10)Lloyds Banking Group has announced it lost £24bn on bad loans in 2009, forcing the bank heavilyinto the red. The bank posted an operating loss of £6.3bn - slightly less than analysts hadexpected and less than the £6.7bn loss the group made in 2008. On a pre-tax profit basis, thegroup made a profit of £1bn. The bank blamed the massive losses on commercial property loansmade by Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), which it took over at the start of last year.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% state-owned, posted a full-year loss of £3.6 billion. RBS is the second major UK bank to report its 2009 results. Last week, Barclays announcedrecord profits of more than £11 billion - a 92% rise on the previous year. However, RBS’ loss isnot as bad as analysts were expecting, many had predicted losses of around £5 billion. Furthermore,the figure is much lower than the £24.1 billion loss.

UK economic growth revised upto 0 .3% (ONS 26/ .02.10)The UK economy grew by 0.3% in thefinal three months of last year, faster thanpreviously estimated. The revision wasdue to stronger growth in services andproduction. The initial estimate releasedlast month said the UK economy hadgrown by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2009,meaning it had emerged from recession. However, the size of the overall contractionin gross domestic product (GDP) duringthe recession increased, from a 6% fall toa 6.25% drop. Output in the service sectorrose by 0.5% between October andDecember, up from a fall of 0.3% in theprevious quarter, the Office for NationalStatistics said. Output from productionindustries rose by 0.4%, compared with a1% fall between July and September.Household expenditure was up by 0.4%.The better-than-expected revision confirmsthe UK's economic recovery. But analystssaid there was still a chance that theeconomy could contract again in thecurrent quarter as a result of a weakJanuary caused by the bad weather andthe accelerated sales in December as VATa n d o t h e r s t i m u l u s e n d e d .

U n e m p l o y m e n t F a l l s( O N S 1 7 / 0 2 / 1 0 )The number of people unemployed in theUK has fallen slightly, figures show. Totalunemployment stood at 2.46 million forthe three months to December, down 3,000on the figure for the previous three months.But long-term unemployment, coveringthose out of work for more than a year,rose by 37,000 to 663,000, the highestfigure since 1997

House Price Rise Stalls; but is thisjust a ‘bl ip’? (BBC 26/02/10)UK house prices fell for the first time in 10months in February as icy weather put offhouse hunters, the Nationwide buildingsociety has said. Average property valuesdropped by 1% compared with January,with the average home worth £161,320.But the annual rate of increase acceleratedto 9.2% because prices droppedf a s t e r a y e a r a g o .Mortgage lending also slowed at the startof the year owing to the hangover fromthe stamp duty holiday. A separate LandRegistry survey of house prices in Englandand Wales found that in the previousmonth, January, prices rose strongly by2.1%. That was the eighth monthly rise ina row reported by the Registry and pushedthe average house price up to £165,088- 5.2% higher than in January 2009.