Yesterday was AM’s annual finance conference.

Location fell to Madejski Stadium, Reading, which I suspect turned out to be unpopular with many, not least me!

Leaving our offices at Peterborough at 6am to be on the safe side, with an aim to arrive between 8.30 and 9, didn’t do the trick: We arrived at 9.43. Thankfully, it sounded like a lot of people had been held up too, due to accidents, so we didn’t miss the beginning.

The morning sessions were essentially gloomy – things are bad in the market and we know it.

But, speakers like Keith Parry from Barclays Commercial Bank told us how to weather the storm. Parry spoke about ensuring good relationships with your bank, making sure they know your situation and understand it.

Other speakers included John O’Hanlon, Ridgeway Group chief executive, who gave an insightful look into how he runs the business’ systems and Colin Bruder from Network Automotive who discussed getting on the green bandwagon as a crucial part of capitalising sales when times are tough.

Finance is always a dense topic and I can’t say some of it didn’t go over my head, LIBOR this, ancillary business that.

But ultimately I thought it was an informative and varied day - I’m yet to hear attendees' view from the feedback sheets!

Look out for a summary of the conference in AM November 28 issue.