Who's going to be next....

Woolworths has been struggling for years - no clear brand identity, no USPs, and the management took out a massive loan to keep it afloat, about £380m, 12 months ago. You have to question the banks for granting the loan as the majority of that will now be written off!

growth is good and yes, growth relies on "Getting the newest, Freshest & bestest "



but just to make it clear, i drive a 15 year old car worth 500 quid my clothes have holes in them and i dont have any debt. im just speaking my mind.

Personally, I've never had it so good. My mortgage has come down by a third. Petrol is back where it should be and stores are giving stuff away.
My company has just had a record year, so I get a full bonus.
I have always tried to live within my means and not deal with credit (appart from the £130K mortgage )
What makes me sick is seeing people who have made a fortune over the last 10 years on property now bleeting about it on tv.
Caught the end of something yesterday where a developer was talking about taking a surveyor to court for over-valueing properties that he bought.
The property is now worth half what it was 2 years ago. Bet he wasn't complaining about the property he bought that went up in value for the previous 8 years.
Its been too easy for too many companies for years. Now it survival of the fittest

crud":1rwhlw9n said:

but just to make it clear, i drive a 15 year old car worth 500 quid my clothes have holes in them and i dont have any debt. im just speaking my mind.

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Just sold my car for £260! Cycling is the way forward.

Most likely to be a car maker or someone selling "luxury" goods that nobody needs - like Starbucks.

This debt based monetary system is coming to an end - the fiat currency experiment since 1972 has failed :?

Buy gold, tinned food, guns and retro bikes and run to the hills :twisted:

wasnt it: ''invest in gold, tins of beans and shotgun cartridges''?

Anyway - A small glimpse at an example of UK manufacturing, some of you may remember Audiolab/ TAG McLaren Audio.

Well, their most popular product was the AV32R home cinema processor. Others had more facilaties but the AV32R, by qurk of software, sounded the best, it was better than stuff costing 3 times as much.

Anyway back in 2001 - the basic AV32R was manufactured for around £688, sold to dealers for around £1200, retailed for £2295

Wow, you think - thats a lot of margin for everyone, but no. All the dealers ever did was piss and winge that we werent giving them the best deal.

That was the uphill struggle that the company faced. We decided to sell direct over the internet, only selling via the best dealers and politely telling the rest to f*** off.

This worked, come January 2004, the company posted a profit for the first time in its 5 years. Sadly that wasnt enough, the 2 share holders, Ron Dennis and Mansuer Ojeh ('scuse the spelling) decided that as the McLaren as group was losing money (pre Hamilton), the audio side was to be closed.

We wanted a mangment by-out as we had a viable business plan and willing staff. No. the assets were sold to the Chinese owned International Audio Group (Wharfedale to you and me). All but 3 of the original staff of 140 odd lost their jobs and by August 2004, only 2 were left.


Thats how a familiar brand is sold off to disappear or to be devalued - Audiolab is now a joke. Meridan took over the McLaren building and have recently made 10 staff redundant.

Thats just a small microcosm of whats happening today. Lots of people are gonna lose their jobs. It going to be hard. Some of the jobs advertised in the local paper were highly skilled, requiring at least a years experiance in a similar role. Catch 22, you need to get a job to get the experence to get a job...

makster":2iha5dza said:

Personally, I've never had it so good. My mortgage has come down by a third. Petrol is back where it should be and stores are giving stuff away.
My company has just had a record year, so I get a full bonus.
I have always tried to live within my means and not deal with credit (appart from the £130K mortgage )
What makes me sick is seeing people who have made a fortune over the last 10 years on property now bleeting about it on tv.
Caught the end of something yesterday where a developer was talking about taking a surveyor to court for over-valueing properties that he bought.
The property is now worth half what it was 2 years ago. Bet he wasn't complaining about the property he bought that went up in value for the previous 8 years.
Its been too easy for too many companies for years. Now it survival of the fittest

Click to expand...

so you must either deal in oil or food. which is it bigboy?

richie-t":317kyf53 said:

makster":317kyf53 said:

Personally, I've never had it so good. My mortgage has come down by a third. Petrol is back where it should be and stores are giving stuff away.
My company has just had a record year, so I get a full bonus.
I have always tried to live within my means and not deal with credit (appart from the £130K mortgage )
What makes me sick is seeing people who have made a fortune over the last 10 years on property now bleeting about it on tv.
Caught the end of something yesterday where a developer was talking about taking a surveyor to court for over-valueing properties that he bought.
The property is now worth half what it was 2 years ago. Bet he wasn't complaining about the property he bought that went up in value for the previous 8 years.
Its been too easy for too many companies for years. Now it survival of the fittest

Click to expand...

so you must either deal in oil or food. which is it bigboy?

Click to expand...

Peoples health
The poorer they get, the more money the NHS spends on equipment, the busier I get.
Very cynical I know, but this is the first job I've had where I actualy feel 'safe' during tough times.
Its just a shame that its always the people at the bottom who suffer. These companies run up massive debt then just go pop. Its not the directors who suffer is it? Its the workers, and not just the direct workers.
How many smaller companies get dragged down with the larger ones?
The knock-on effect of a large company going tits-up can be huge for the surrounding area.
This is why it pisses me off seeing these big-wigs bitching about it on tv. Bet they're still going to have a good xmas!

Bollox, that last post took me off 'oooonnnee hundred and eeeiiiighty'

makster":3bb29nn6 said:

Its not the directors who suffer is it?

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I wouldn't say that. Directors of small businesses go through stresses you wouldn't believe, bank guarantees etc, keeping ungrateful scrotes employed through money out of your own pocket etc etc