Another Celebrity Chef in the Stew

Doozergirl

Alan_M wrote: »

LloydsTSB are at least partially responsible for the collapse of this business, they are pulling the plug across the board on small to medium sized businesses.

My particular bank manager has pretty much had all decision making processes removed from him and has to refer even small amounts of funding requirement up the chain of command. Reading between the lines, orders are coming from above to simply call all lending in where the facilities to repay it exist.

The orders from on high are very strong to find lending but unsecured isn't very popular. The rates are higher than before, non negotiable and the LTV available to secure against property is down. For my product I saw pretty big numbers last week which tallies with more lending than of late but the managers I've spoken to say they are struggling to find it - the sort the bank wants I guess. They are overexposed on property, no surprise.

Conrad

Alan_M wrote: »

....how would you manage that without borrowing? That is the position any business buying stock and supplying the end user faces.

I'm planning to start a new business in a few years time such as a furniture retailer, but I won't do it until I have cleared my mortgage and have enough to buy all the stock and ready the premises and have 12 months rent available in cash.

Your'e in granite, which I know little about apart from the fact I had to shell out £6k for kitchen tops!, so I'd imagine you hold hundreds of thousand of punds in stock, so I can see why you would be more likely to need Bank funding, so I was a bit short sighted - sorry

Sir_Humphrey

apt wrote: »

A drunk Floyd is a better cook than a sober AWT in my opinion, but a much worse businessman.

Keith Floyd is highly entertaining IMO. I doubt I could cook at all on a Primus Stove on a small wooden boat in Hong Kong harbour or whereever.

Trollfever

LloydsTSB are at least partially responsible for the collapse of this business, they are pulling the plug across the board on small to medium sized businesses.

I suspect that Lloyds Banking Group are only now discovering the horrors that lie in the HBOS lending portfolio.

Kev09

Alan_M wrote: »

In situations of high stock value businesses, they are almost entirely non viable without borrowing.

Lets imagine this though....instead of just moving paper and getting a commission at the end of it..you actually had to "Buy" every mortgage you sold....you had to finance it first, then sell it to your customer....how would you manage that without borrowing? That is the position any business buying stock and supplying the end user faces.
.

That is a bad analogy, business should not be borrowing to finance stock, If they are then they are in trouble, business do need to borrow from time to time, but it should be to finance big projects etc not as working capital!

apt

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Keith Floyd is highly entertaining IMO. I doubt I could cook at all on a Primus Stove on a small wooden boat in Hong Kong harbour or whereever.

I certainly agree that Floyd's later series were little more than self-parody and location shots. But the early series were better with some good fish cooking and real understanding of French cooking. The restaurants he opened in the south west in the 1970s also had a good reputation even if they turned out to be hopeless business propositions. Not sure that Floyd has lowered himself to doing a fry-up several times on TV as AWT has. One similarity between the two men is that they have been through several wives. AWT is on his third marriage and Floyd has been divorced four times. That's as good a way as any to burn money.

Doozergirl

Kev09 wrote: »

That is a bad analogy, business should not be borrowing to finance stock, If they are then they are in trouble, business do need to borrow from time to time, but it should be to finance big projects etc not as working capital!

You need cashflow though. If you are offering credit terms to your customers then you need to finance that plus the new stock to keep you going. Cashflow is incredibly important to the success of any business.

Thrugelmir

torontoboy45 wrote: »

so he wasn't prepared to take the 'horrendous' risk of putting his house up for security but begged the bank to chance its arm with taxpayers' cash.

and just to show his caring side he points his staff to the redundancy comp. scheme.which is funded by...........

.....and he only lives in a house worth £1.6m.

In a way no better than the bankers. Put one self first and feather ones own nest at the expense of everyone else.

Alan_M_2

Conrad wrote: »

I'm planning to start a new business in a few years time such as a furniture retailer, but I won't do it until I have cleared my mortgage and have enough to buy all the stock and ready the premises and have 12 months rent available in cash.

Your'e in granite, which I know little about apart from the fact I had to shell out £6k for kitchen tops!, so I'd imagine you hold hundreds of thousand of punds in stock, so I can see why you would be more likely to need Bank funding, so I was a bit short sighted - sorry

The tops I sell average £200 - £300 per length, I'm a wholesaler not a retailer.

Of your £6000 fit, around £4500 would have been retail mark up and profit, £1500 would have been fitting costs and materials. You'd be surprised how much granite £100,000 will buy. The idea that £6000 is what it costs is a common misconception. Most fits can now be undertaken for comfortably a third of what you paid with a little research.

Unlike most businesses, I have to pay in full 3 months in advance of recieving the stock I sell, then multiply that by the fact I need a running supply and have to guess what will sell......You're going have a rude awakening stepping into a business that requires stock, unless of course you're opening premisies that hold display items only and buy in to order.

Bf109

Thrugelmir wrote: »

In a way no better than the bankers. Put one self first and feather ones own nest at the expense of everyone else.

You know, if they're hard up, they should consider a career as an African despot, since the above qualities are part of the key competency framework for the role of African despot.