The management and staff at tunnelbuilder ltd send greetings and good wishes to all our readers around the world at this festive time. While the international financial news has not always been good, there is a sense that things are moving in the right direction, evidenced by the fact that we have more supporters than ever. It has been a year of consolidation for the tunnelling industry, with an average 45 live bids, and 600+ bids and awards advertised on our front page. We have also seen an increase in job advertisements. With the industry trending positively, we decided to invest in full-scale revision of our websites to improve our reader experience. As a result, not only is our content fresher and navigation easier, but we have more trans-media capability. Our advertisers also like the new look, and are responding with larger programmes that include our Spanish and Italian websites, which are now translated, updated and managed in Madrid and Milan.

Our mood can be summarized as cautious optimism for our industry, which has already proved exceptionally resilient during five years of economic hardship. If we toast anybody, then it has to be our thousands of readers who daily go about their jobs, frequently in hostile environments, working to improve the lot of mankind while striving to remain unnoticed. Keep up the good work! Without you we would be nothing. 51/11.