A record 7,747 companies hit the wall in the first nine months of this financial year, according to last weekend’s Australian newspaper.

Around the same time of the financial year, some 35 years ago, my wife and I were desperately scrambling to keep our company from collapse.

300 staff, an asset base of $14m, a full order book of small ship design, and builds worth $12m – all approved by the government’s Export Finance department.