I was in London last week to attend the Incisive board meeting. Thought it might be helpful if I share how our cousins in the UK are doing.

As we're seeing in the US, the economic news is a bit gloomy in London, with the financial sector suffering in much the same way that ours is, particularly in the mortgage arena. Not surprisingly, Incisive's mortgage publications and events have taken a hit from that downturn, and it's fair to say that they don't yet see the light at the end of that particular tunnel. Recruitment advertising across many sectors is also hurting, as financial services firms, law firms and others tighten their belts and cut back on hiring. That decline in recruitment advertising--which we are seeing across all of our US legal publications as well--is likely to continue well into 2009.

Other parts of Incisive's UK business are holding their own and, in some places, doing quite well. The Risk business, in particular, seems to be weathering the storm, which may say something about the ability of sophisticated investors to make money in any kind of market. And online revenues are growing at double digit rates, as the company invests in upgrading websites and sales capabilities. So, too, there is a lot of good news out of Hong Kong; it sounded like there's real interest in investing further in building up our Asian businesses.

Offsetting these revenue declines in London has been a real effort to control costs. Tim Weller describes the management in London as "mean", by which he means "cheap" rather than "angry". We might say that they are penny-pinchers, looking for any way they can to cut costs without impacting their products. And, like us, they have tightened up on filling open positions and continue to look for ways to ride out the current storm.

It is worth remembering that, like all storms, this one will pass. For some of our businesses that turnaround may begin in 2009, while for others it will take a bit longer. But many of us have been through these kinds of economic downturns in the past, and we know that we will get through this one as well. The trick is to maintain a focus on our core--what makes us unique and successful as a business. And it is critical that we make the investments today that will make us even more successful when the inevitable turnaround comes our way.