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Institute of Directors North West Region

Doing a Ratner

Jewellery tycoon Gerald Ratner rubbed shoulders with Olympic medallist Kriss Akabusi MBE and business leaders across the North West at the star studded, inaugural Institute of Directors (IoD) North West annual conference sponsored by T-Mobile, UKTI, Travelex and Lexus.

Gerald faced huge setbacks following a controversial speech at the 1991 IoD annual conference at The Royal Albert Hall when he was 34, which contributed to wiping £500 million off Ratners’ stock. Kriss Akabusi gave a dynamic and motivational speech on being ‘FIT4 Business’ at the conference which was held at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester. They and stars of the business world gave a frank and highly personal view of their successes, low points and plans for the future.

Miles Templeman, Director General of the IoD, who opened the conference, said:
“The North West is one of the IoD’s strongest regions and the North West is very important to UK Plc. This is the first convention of its kind outside London. In the 1800’s the Port of Liverpool had 40 per cent of world trade going through it. The region is now looking forward to important technological advances. Technology is nothing unless there is leadership, with good management and bold ambitions. The IoD’s role is to support and inspire ambition within business leaders.”

Kris who has been running his communications business Akabusi Company for more than 10 years kicked off the conference. In his keynote speech, Kris, 47, spoke about the many similarities between sport and business. He said:
“You have to step into the business arena with passion and be confident of victory. Defeats are learning curves for inevitable victories along the way. We are presented with opportunities each day and must step into the arena with pride, passion and a ‘can do’ attitude. Differences make us unique, similarities make us champions. In the arena at the point of delivery we don’t worry about the competition.”

The conference featured a panel of business leaders from the North West, chaired by BBC broadcaster Mark Edwardson, which comprised some of the most noteworthy, successful and influential managing directors and chief executives across the North West, with a combined turnover approaching £3 billion and employing more than 25,000 people for sales into 130 countries world-wide.

They included Stuart Chambers, chief executive of Pilkington plc, Nighat Awan OBE, chief executive & co owner of the Shere Khan Group, David Briggs, managing director of Dawsons Music and Edwin Booth, executive chairman of E H Booth & Co Ltd, who all showed optimism for further business success in the North West and gave delegates tips on leadership.

Nighat Awan said:
“The North West is up and coming and catching up fast. To be a leader you have to look ahead and lead by example. When you make a mistake you have to recognise it and do something about it.”

Stuart Chambers said:
“Leadership is to be able to be clear when things are changing and making sure as many people as possible within your organisation can understand the signposts that represent where your company is going.”

David Briggs said:
“We need change and a leader looks at the long-term, has a vision and a mission, but also looks at the detail. There is a danger of just thinking about your strategy. You must do the administration and deal with the detail as well as the big picture.”

Edwin Booth said:
“I am genuinely excited about the North West. We have roots here and are planning 15 to 20 years ahead. Ninety per cent of leadership is about persuading people. Leadership is an intrinsic quality. When I took over the business in 1997, I had to take it out of the 19th century into the 20th century and prepare it for the 21st century. My inspiration in business was Gordon Baxter of Baxter’s soup.”

Football is a key component of the North West economy. Premiership high-flyers Alistair Mackintosh, of Manchester City FC, and Brenda Spencer, of Wigan Athletic FC, who are bosses at Clubs currently in the top 10 of the highest Division and Dave Edmundson, of Burnley FC, who appear secure in the middle of The Championship Table, formed part of the panel who discussed football’s financial landscape and the invaluable community links that are the lifeblood of every Club.

Paul Rawnsley, Senior Consultant in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, answered questions from award-winning sports journalist and chair of the panel David Conn. Paul revealed there is a total revenue of £1.3 billion across the 20 Premiership Clubs generating an average revenue of £66 million and Clubs in the Championship make an average revenue of £12 million a year.

David Conn said:
“Football is a tremendously strong game in the North West and it is envied around the world. There is a corporate social responsibility in the game with improved governance and better facilities such as conference centres, which provide an asset base. Football Clubs create an emotional attachment within supporters and the Club can become a bedrock in the community helping to provide social regeneration.”

In 1991, the Ratners Group had a turnover of £1.2 billion and owned Watches of Switzerland, Ernest Jones, H Samuel and Ratners, making it the largest jewellers in the world. This was until Gerald made one of the biggest corporate gaffes in history when he described a decanter sold in one of his shops as ‘crap.’

Gerald, who has recovered from the backlash and set up Britain’s biggest online jeweller GeraldOnline in 2002, said:
“Sky voted my quip as one of the world’s worst mistakes. Research found that if I had said it in Australia sales would have gone up. The only way you can overcome a setback is to brush it aside and make yourself a success.”

Gerald told the conference he would be presenting ‘Doing a Ratner’ on Sky One which comes out in the Autumn, where he will attempt to troubleshoot and advise businesses.

The conference was headline sponsored by T-Mobile and included a breakfast seminar from UK Trade & Investment, the UK government organisation helping UK companies to do business abroad. It stressed the business benefits of international trade and explained the global network of support services that are available to help companies generate business there.

Travelex, the world’s largest non-bank provider of foreign exchange, presented a session on minimising business risk when trading internationally. 87% of all companies involved in international trade are partly or wholly exposed to loss from the currency market and every day $1.4 trillion is turned over in exchange markets across the world.

ENDS: 1,095 words

Panelist Profiles

Kriss Akabusi MBE retired in 1992 aged 34, after winning a gold medal in the 1990 European Championships, a gold medal in the World Championships 4×400m relay in Tokyo in 1991 and a bronze medal at 1992 Olympics. For more details visit: www.akabusi.com

Nighat Awan OBE is chief executive & co owner of the Shere Khan Group. Nighat counts four highly successful and very diverse companies amongst her business achievements, encompassing fashion, floristry and food. She is also a respected community figure in the North West, who has overcome a number of personal challenges and illnesses. Her OBE was awarded in 2004 for “Services to Export and to Charity”. She was a finalist in the business category for the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Great Briton 2005’ awards.

The Shere Khan Group has five restaurants in the North West and has developed the concept of quality restaurant food presented in a fast food format with their Express restaurants in the Trafford Centre (Manchester), Bluewater (Essex) and Meadow Hall (Sheffield) with more planned. Shere Khan was the first restaurant chain to launch their own range of curry sauces listed in the UK by supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys and stores House of Fraser and Selfridges. Nighat is currently developing export lines for the Shere Khan ranges in Hong Kong, Canada, USA, Spain, France and Belgium.

Edwin Booth is the Executive Chairman of E H Booth & Co Ltd., the proprietor of Booths Supermarkets. The company also operates www.everywine.co.uk and www.booths-wine.co.uk. Edwin, who entered the business immediately after school, represents the fifth generation of the family that has operated the business since 1847. Wine became his speciality for many years enabling him to gain Booths national recognition for their wine. Booths have been members of NISA Today’s (Holdings) Ltd., since its foundation and Edwin is presently the group’s Deputy Chairman. Edwin is the 2005 IoD North West Director of The Year.

David Briggs is chairman of Dawsons Music Ltd. David graduated from St Andrew’s with 1st Class Honours in Law, went on to qualify as a Barrister and then obtained his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. David has held managerial roles in companies including Hanson Transport Group Ltd and Hepworth Plastics International Ltd. For the past 26 years David has been chairman of Dawsons Music Ltd. David is also the Chairman of St John’s Ambulance in Cheshire and Chairman of the Warrington Youth Club. He is the Institute of Directors’ Cheshire Director of the Year 2005.

Stuart Chambers, 49, is group chief executive of Pilkington plc, one of the world’s leading glass manufacturers. He was appointed to this position in May 2002, having spent the previous three years as president of Pilkington Group’s global building products business. Before joining Pilkington, he held several senior sales and marketing positions with Mars Corporation, which he joined from Shell. Stuart is a key member of the North West Business Leadership Team and a non-executive director of Associated British Ports Holdings PLC, the UK’s largest port operator.

David Conn is an author and journalist, having written ‘The Beautiful Game: Searching for the Soul of Football’, and ‘The Football Business’, which covers the English game since the Hillsborough disaster. David also is a weekly columnist for The Independent: “Inside Football” and writes for The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, The Observer, The Times, The Guardian and the Financial Times. He wrote an award winning article on the takeover of Manchester United FC for Insider magazine. David, who is the Guardian’s Sports News Reporter of the Year, lectures to MBA courses at Liverpool University, Birkbeck College, London and to undergraduates at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Dave Edmundson was appointed as the new Chief Executive of Burnley Football Club at Turf Moor in October 2003. Dave had previously spent time as the Secretary of Lancashire County Cricket Club and the Lancashire Cricket Board, a post which he left in 2002. Dave has since worked with his own consultancy with Bolton Wanderers FC, Wigan Warriors Rugby League FC and the South African Cricket Team and contributed to the management of several top cricket players such as Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Graham Thorpe and Dominic Cork. Dave has also worked in the media on a freelance basis for the BBC Radio Lancashire, Granada and The Daily Telegraph.

Alistair Mackintosh, Chief Executive of Manchester City FC, was appointed Financial Controller of the Sky Blues in 1998, returning to his roots in the North West. He was promoted to Finance Director in 1999, at the age of 28. In 2002, Alistair was promoted to Joint Managing Director, becoming Managing Director in 2003 before being made Chief Executive in 2004. He is a former Young Director of the Year for the IoD.

Gerald Ratner, 49, set up a health club business in 1996, which he sold for £3.9 million. GeraldOnline took more than £3 million in its first three weeks and recorded more than three million hits. For more info visit: www.geraldonline.com

Paul Rawnsley is a Senior Consultant in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte based in Manchester. He has undertaken various assignments working with governing bodies, leagues, clubs and other sports business organisations in the UK and around Europe.
During the past two years, Paul has led Deloitte’s assistance to UEFA for the development of the financial requirements of the European-wide club licensing system.

Paul is also the Project Manager and Editor of Deloitte publications including the Annual Review of Football Finance and is a regular media spokesperson on the business of sport.

Brenda Spencer, Chief executive of Wigan Athletic FC, joined the Club in 1986 in accounts, when average crowds were 1,800. Brenda became Club Secretary and then Chief Executive in 1995 when Dave Whelan bought the Club. Fortunes have been turned around and the club is in the Premiership.

The Institute of Directors is a non-political independent organisation with 55,000 members. In addition to its wide range of business services, the IoD provides an effective voice to represent the interests of its members to government and key opinion-formers. It also brings the experience of business leaders to bear on the conduct of public affairs. More information at www.iod.com/northwest

Contact Points:

Jane Harrad-Roberts, Press Officer, IoD North West
Mobile and out of hours: 07785 395705
Email: jane@marketingprojects.co.uk

Laura Wolfe, Regional Director, IoD North West
Tel.: 0161 209 3152
Mobile and out of hours: 07973 332564
Email. laura.wolfe@iod.com
Web. www.iod.com/northwest

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