Recession? What Recession?

fc123

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

Your link was published 9 months ago.
Is it possible that we may have moved on since then

I did hear that Sir Alan Sugar had a go at small businesses for being whingers.
I wonder what he would make of most people on here

Go on ISTL..'fess up..it was in The Mail

I can understand where he was coming from ....he didn't word it well though.

Full Article

Gordon Brown's business tsar Alan Sugar was under siege last night after dismissing struggling small firms as ' moaners' who lived in 'Disney World'.
The multi-millionaire claimed a mere 15 per cent of businesses turned down for bank loans had anything to complain about.

The rest, he declared, needed an 'insolvency practitioner' rather than more money.

Enterprise Champion Lord Sugar, pictured with Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, yesterday dismissed struggling small business bosses as 'moaners'

Lord Sugar, 62, delivered his verdict at a question-and-answer session for bosses of small to medium businesses in Manchester.


As the man meant to champion the cause of viable small companies with the banks, his outburst is highly embarrassing for the Prime Minister.
It also comes at a time when ministers are pressuring banks to increase lending to small firms - the lifeblood of the British economy.

Lord Sugar, who was appointed as Mr Brown's business adviser earlier this year, erupted at the meeting after businessman Alber Goldberg complained that four banks had refused to lend him money to develop a new product.



Lord Sugar replied: 'I can honestly say a lot of problems you hear from people who are moaning are from companies I wouldn't lend a penny to.


'They are bust. The moaners are bust. They are bust and they don't need the bank - they need an insolvency practitioner.
'I would look at you right in the eyes and tell you out of 100 complaints, on investigation I would say 15 of them had something to moan about.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1224895/Theyre-living-Disney-World-Governments-business-tsar-Alan-Sugars-astonishing-rant-Britains-moaning-bosses.html#ixzz0W1Zv3lMh

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

damanpunk wrote: »

Hamish was it any good? Thinking of going next week!

Yeah, pretty good.

Not the best sushi ever, but pretty good.

fc123

damanpunk wrote: »

Hamish was it any good? Thinking of going next week!

According to A A Gill, it is Sushi in 'The Style of Macdonalds'. I don't 'do' Sushi due to a chronic shellfish allergy, even the vegan option in Wagamama had me passing out over the bench (must have been utensils tainted with Oyster sauce or Fish sauce) and I can't wait for the food labelling rules to come into force for restaurants.

All those 'label watchers' in the Oligopoly supermarkets will be blown away by the info on their 'fresh lamb shank' in the authentic looking French Bistro that is has more e numbers and unidentifiable thingys in it than they ever knew...and was microwaved from a prepack, not lovingly prepped and cooked by a chef as the image of the venue implies.

These places are the ones that are thriving, unfortunately, as their business model is so profitable.

treliac

DH has just been watching a recording of Britain's disgusting food .... burgers, sausages, pies, etc. were being made out of (nearly) every conceivable part of an animal. I looked at the wrong moment and someone was holding up a cow's nose - urghh!

When most of the animal has been stripped of flesh, the remaining carcase goes into a giant press. The slurry that comes out gets mixed in as well.

Am I glad I don't eat meat.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

fc123 wrote: »

According to A A Gill, it is Sushi in 'The Style of Macdonalds'.

It is certainly in the "style" of Macdonalds.... Although in fairness it also has elements of Japanese pop culture thrown in.

But the quality of food is far better than Macdonalds.

These places are the ones that are thriving, unfortunately, as their business model is so profitable.

There is a big disconnect in both price and quality between fresh food, freshly prepared, and the mass market food joints.

The problem is, as always, down to volume. Large contract caterers can produce fresh food from scratch amazingly cheaply. It's easy when you're doing 5000 meals a day off a limited menu, in each of 200 units, and have supply contracts and retro discounts in place from national suppliers.

A national chain can buy pre-packed food in bulk from 3663 or Brakes and come fairly close to contract catering costs, by doing 200-300 meals a day in 500 outlets.

A small independant restaurant, trying to do 50 to 100 covers a day simply doesn't have the economy of scale, and can't come anywhere near the pricing of the chains. So unless it's truly exceptional food, that people are willing to pay quite a bit extra for..... They're screwed.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

treliac wrote: »

DH has just been watching a recording of Britain's disgusting food .... burgers, sausages, pies, etc. were being made out of (nearly) every conceivable part of an animal. I looked at the wrong moment and someone was holding up a cow's nose - urghh!

When most of the animal has been stripped of flesh, the remaining carcase goes into a giant press. The slurry that comes out gets mixed in as well.

Am I glad I don't eat meat.

:rotfl:

I know exactly what goes into hotdogs......

I still think they are tasty on occasion though.;)

Vegetables on the other hand, I really have to force myself to eat. Disgusting things.:eek:

fc123

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

It is certainly in the "style" of Macdonalds.... Although in fairness it also has elements of Japanese pop culture thrown in.

But the quality of food is far better than Macdonalds.



There is a big disconnect in both price and quality between fresh food, freshly prepared, and the mass market food joints.

The problem is, as always, down to volume. Large contract caterers can produce fresh food from scratch amazingly cheaply. It's easy when you're doing 5000 meals a day off a limited menu, in each of 200 units, and have supply contracts and retro discounts in place from national suppliers.

A national chain can buy pre-packed food in bulk from 3663 or Brakes and come fairly close to contract catering costs, by doing 200-300 meals a day in 500 outlets.

A small independant restaurant, trying to do 50 to 100 covers a day simply doesn't have the economy of scale, and can't come anywhere near the pricing of the chains. So unless it's truly exceptional food, that people are willing to pay quite a bit extra for..... They're screwed.

Same with clothing.

I think ahat A A Gill meant was it was the lowest quality of Sushi, not that it was like Macdonalds in price or style, more in the quality. He may have been comparing it to top end swishy places in London.


I remember one of the first Yo Sushi's opening in Bluewater....maybe 1995? It was deserted and closed after a couple of years. Could be back in there now?
At the time, it was all TGI's and Tottsies that were packed.

IveSeenTheLight

fc123 wrote: »

Go on ISTL..'fess up..it was in The Mail

I can understand where he was coming from ....he didn't word it well though.

Full Article

The clue was in my use of the word "hear".
I heard it on the radio

Upon reflection, how did you know it was a Daily Mail article?

Jonbvn

tommy75 wrote: »

I thought you were some sweaty BTL scottish bloke starving off bankruptcy with the skin of your teeth with all your VI posting . £140 for a bottle of wine and £250 for some fish eggs? Thats our entire months shopping budget . I hope you don't drive to these establishments, wine for £140 a bottle must get you very drunk.

We are fortunate in having a champagne income and a lager lifestyle.;) I wonder if the reverse is true for Hamish?:cool:

fc123

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

The clue was in my use of the word "hear".
I heard it on the radio

Upon reflection, how did you know it was a Daily Mail article?

........now that would be telling.:o