Wilko's Ceremonial Flaying by MPs
Discussion
Do we ever get any meaningful insights from these, except into the grandstanding tendencies of MPs? Case in point.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67552360
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67552360
Article here:
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/...
TLDR?
Ultimately yes - or no... First one would be invited, then if a refusal, summoned, then if still refusing, cited as being in contempt of the House. Thing is, nobody seems to know what sanction would then be available, and nothing has been enforced since the C19th
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/...
TLDR?
Ultimately yes - or no... First one would be invited, then if a refusal, summoned, then if still refusing, cited as being in contempt of the House. Thing is, nobody seems to know what sanction would then be available, and nothing has been enforced since the C19th
Liam Byrne - asking Lisa Wilkinson to apologise to the taxpayer for expense incurred as a function of the business' failure.
Also Liam Byrne - denied, despite 'overwhelming evidence', that at least 1,000 hours of tax-payer funded time had been deployed in support of his mayoral election bid contary to parliamentary standards.
As a business owner, it'd be a cold day in hell before I agree to appear in front of these duplicitous, grandstanding, public sector patsies - getting paid at the end of every month regardless of what they've achieved, done, or rather not done.
Also Liam Byrne - denied, despite 'overwhelming evidence', that at least 1,000 hours of tax-payer funded time had been deployed in support of his mayoral election bid contary to parliamentary standards.
As a business owner, it'd be a cold day in hell before I agree to appear in front of these duplicitous, grandstanding, public sector patsies - getting paid at the end of every month regardless of what they've achieved, done, or rather not done.
from the article
Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to f
k over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.
Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to f
k over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
The Selfish Gene said:
from the article
Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to fk over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.
Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
If you'd read a tiny bit further you'd have gotten to the actual detail, which does make it sound a little less as you've described. Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to f
k over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
On the landlord issue, it was to do with IT infrastructure. For them to migrate the business they needed about 4 months to move it over to their own systems. So they needed the old Wilko servers online for 4 months. The servers were in a tiny corner of a million sqft warehouse. The landlord wanted to charge them the rent on the entire warehouse instead of only the part they were using. Hence his comment they were being inflexible.
(I can appreciate the complexity of what he was probably asking the landlord to do, but the man has done well with HMV so he knows what he's doing it would seem).
C5_Steve said:
If you'd read a tiny bit further you'd have gotten to the actual detail, which does make it sound a little less as you've described.
On the landlord issue, it was to do with IT infrastructure. For them to migrate the business they needed about 4 months to move it over to their own systems. So they needed the old Wilko servers online for 4 months. The servers were in a tiny corner of a million sqft warehouse. The landlord wanted to charge them the rent on the entire warehouse instead of only the part they were using. Hence his comment they were being inflexible.
(I can appreciate the complexity of what he was probably asking the landlord to do, but the man has done well with HMV so he knows what he's doing it would seem).
fair I lost interest halfway through, but "Canadian billionaire Doug Putman"On the landlord issue, it was to do with IT infrastructure. For them to migrate the business they needed about 4 months to move it over to their own systems. So they needed the old Wilko servers online for 4 months. The servers were in a tiny corner of a million sqft warehouse. The landlord wanted to charge them the rent on the entire warehouse instead of only the part they were using. Hence his comment they were being inflexible.
(I can appreciate the complexity of what he was probably asking the landlord to do, but the man has done well with HMV so he knows what he's doing it would seem).
the billionaire bit, makes me think BS on the rest of it. Nobody s
ts the bed on a deal over a IT system when they're a billionaire. At best it was a pissing competition - but he wasn't motivated or he'd have fixed it.
The Selfish Gene said:
from the article
Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to fk over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.
Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
Yes, was about to say.... whose greed exactly? More than evens chance it was his.Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to f
k over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
Bonefish Blues said:
Interesting insight buried in the article re Wilko continuing to trade right through Covid because of the ethos of the business, as opposed to close and take stloads of cash, thereby burning its own cash, not ours.
Exactly, and when it was all going to pot, who was going to Wilko to buy toiletries, garden supplies and some light DIY equipment? Not many.tloads of cash, thereby burning its own cash, not ours.Bad business decision, yes, but not a bad deal for taxpayer.
C5_Steve said:
The Selfish Gene said:
from the article
Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to fk over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.
Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
If you'd read a tiny bit further you'd have gotten to the actual detail, which does make it sound a little less as you've described. Earlier on Tuesday, the owner of HMV detailed how he wanted to rescue most of Wilko's 400 shops but "greed" stood in his way.
Canadian billionaire Doug Putman said firms, including some landlords, had been "super inflexible" and made a deal "literally impossible".
Translation - he tried to f
k over a load of landlords and suppliers to make it worthwhile him getting the business for a quid, and the fact they said no is because they are greedy.Maybe cynical, but well, i've seen this sort of thing more than once.
On the landlord issue, it was to do with IT infrastructure. For them to migrate the business they needed about 4 months to move it over to their own systems. So they needed the old Wilko servers online for 4 months. The servers were in a tiny corner of a million sqft warehouse. The landlord wanted to charge them the rent on the entire warehouse instead of only the part they were using. Hence his comment they were being inflexible.
(I can appreciate the complexity of what he was probably asking the landlord to do, but the man has done well with HMV so he knows what he's doing it would seem).
C5_Steve said:
If you'd read a tiny bit further you'd have gotten to the actual detail, which does make it sound a little less as you've described.
On the landlord issue, it was to do with IT infrastructure. For them to migrate the business they needed about 4 months to move it over to their own systems. So they needed the old Wilko servers online for 4 months. The servers were in a tiny corner of a million sqft warehouse. The landlord wanted to charge them the rent on the entire warehouse instead of only the part they were using. Hence his comment they were being inflexible.
(I can appreciate the complexity of what he was probably asking the landlord to do, but the man has done well with HMV so he knows what he's doing it would seem).
Servers can be moved to other premises.On the landlord issue, it was to do with IT infrastructure. For them to migrate the business they needed about 4 months to move it over to their own systems. So they needed the old Wilko servers online for 4 months. The servers were in a tiny corner of a million sqft warehouse. The landlord wanted to charge them the rent on the entire warehouse instead of only the part they were using. Hence his comment they were being inflexible.
(I can appreciate the complexity of what he was probably asking the landlord to do, but the man has done well with HMV so he knows what he's doing it would seem).
Bonefish Blues said:
Do we ever get any meaningful insights from these, except into the grandstanding tendencies of MPs? Case in point.
Yes.We get to see only the sexy bits on TV or the Newspapers but they are a very useful way for policy makers to get to understand how things are working - or not working - which in turn informs policy making in the future. They're cross-party and rarely are political points trying to be scored. Because they're televised, you do get some grandstanding from MPs and sometimes Lawyers too but that shouldn't detract from the fact that they can be and often are quite useful exercises.
StevieBee said:
Bonefish Blues said:
Do we ever get any meaningful insights from these, except into the grandstanding tendencies of MPs? Case in point.
Yes.We get to see only the sexy bits on TV or the Newspapers but they are a very useful way for policy makers to get to understand how things are working - or not working - which in turn informs policy making in the future. They're cross-party and rarely are political points trying to be scored. Because they're televised, you do get some grandstanding from MPs and sometimes Lawyers too but that shouldn't detract from the fact that they can be and often are quite useful exercises.
Bonefish Blues said:
Interesting insight buried in the article re Wilko continuing to trade right through Covid because of the ethos of the business, as opposed to close and take stloads of cash, thereby burning its own cash, not ours.
It was very interesting that bit and ignored by those questioning the family member. She explained they felt they should not close as they were needed and paid suppliers, staff, landlords and HMRC on time fully.tloads of cash, thereby burning its own cash, not ours.They had something like £100million in cash and burnt through about £70mill then they realised they were in trouble but too late, especially when they had a loan worked out and Truss mini budget screwed them.
It was interesting the new MD they had appointed said he would have closed the doors, paid the landlords 90% and taken as much Furlough and business cash support as there was.
Yet they focussed on the 3 million that was paid to the family trust. I felt for her as she was clearly upset for the loss of their family business as a result of not trying to screw the tax payer
iphonedyou said:
Liam Byrne - asking Lisa Wilkinson to apologise to the taxpayer for expense incurred as a function of the business' failure.
Also Liam Byrne - denied, despite 'overwhelming evidence', that at least 1,000 hours of tax-payer funded time had been deployed in support of his mayoral election bid contary to parliamentary standards.
As a business owner, it'd be a cold day in hell before I agree to appear in front of these duplicitous, grandstanding, public sector patsies - getting paid at the end of every month regardless of what they've achieved, done, or rather not done.
Liam Byrne doesn't come across well at all here. His tone was less inquisitive, more sanctimonious and smug. Will Mr Byrne apologise to the tax payer on behalf of his party for fostering and presiding over a market where huge business like this seem to collapse quite readily?Also Liam Byrne - denied, despite 'overwhelming evidence', that at least 1,000 hours of tax-payer funded time had been deployed in support of his mayoral election bid contary to parliamentary standards.
As a business owner, it'd be a cold day in hell before I agree to appear in front of these duplicitous, grandstanding, public sector patsies - getting paid at the end of every month regardless of what they've achieved, done, or rather not done.
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