Shooters cautious over economic downturn

Shooting has so far weathered the economic downturn with a healthy increase in let days for the 2008/09 season.

However, estates remain cautious about the future, new research by Saffery Champness has revealed.

The accountancy firm surveyed 50 shooting estates in a bid to gauge the state of the let shooting market for the 2008/09 season. The respondents let more than 500 days of shooting in a season (on top of syndicate, private or family days), which represents approximately £4-5million of let shoot income.

“The overall picture painted by this research is one of cautious optimism,” said Jerry Barnes of Saffery Champness.

“The book of business for the 2008/09 season looks surprisingly healthy considering the downturn in the economy.However, there are potential storm clouds on the horizon, particularly as many corporate budgets were set well before the credit crunch took full effect. It is still early days as far as market conditions are concerned and it will be interesting to monitor the health of shoots next April, particularly if the banking sector does not recover quickly.”

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