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keepsmilingeveryone

Listed below are comments made by keepsmilingeveryone between Friday, 12th December 2008 and Thursday, 8th January 2009.

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Does the Bank Rate matter? 10:49am on 08 Jan 2009 Does anyone know how much money HM Government has lost in unpaid PAYE and VAT with the Administrations of Woolworth, Zavvi, etc?? HMG no longer a secured creditor, so they will get not much either.
Rose on pay and VAT 08:54am on 08 Jan 2009 Ref post 56.

Many thanks for all the comments, support and suggestions. Yes, i was wrong on the VAT, a bit of good news!!

The problem with 120 days is that invoice discounting is ruled out, as funding does not go beyond 90 days. As our biggest customer, we can't live without them - but now we can't live with them either.

As for naming and shaming - we only deal with oen hardware store, but friends in fresh produce and furniture tell me it's the same with them.

What worries me more is that I guess (but hope not) this is going on round the country in large numbers, and is largely unreported. If we close down 23 redundancies barely makes the local chip paper.

It certainly causes you to re-appraise what life is about. Family, wife, health, and what sort of world we want to live in.

Good luck to everyone - keep smiling!!
Rose on pay and VAT 6:15pm on 07 Jan 2009 STOP PRESS!!! Here is the real news today from the South of Engand manufacturing industry:

1. Our largest customer (a DIY multiple) has extended payment terms to us to 120 days, and asked for a 4% rebate, which will be "automatically" deducted.

2. As our sales were 17% down in Q4, our VAT payment to C & E is £50,000 over what we forecast in our cashflow.

3. Our main packaging supplier has just gone bust (dragged down by a well known retailer), and can no longer deliver packaging I need for a £100k order for 20 Jan. It will take 3 weeks to get another supplier to supply - and they want paying up front!!!!!!

4. Energy costs up 27% on a year ago. Minimum wage up 3.5%. Interest payments down so some hope.

5. Bank Manager phones to arrange overdraft review for end of January- he wants to cut by £100k. Points 1 to 4 above mean I need £175k more. The business is still profitable believe it or not.

6. Go home at 9pm to wife for late dinner. Tell her we may need to provide Personal Guarantees for £175k. Even with over 50% equity in our modest house, this will not be covered. Wife not happy, do not tell the kids.

7. Go to bed, do not sleep for fifth night on trot. Worried sick how we keep 23 employees with mortgages to pay going. Doze off. Wake up, same **** different day.

8. How can this all happen so quickly to a 30 year old and profitable business????

This is the REAL story of today in our area and amongst my bsuienss contacts. In industrial estates and high streets across Britain, good small and profitable businesses are being screwed to slow death by the acts of others.
M&S: no ordinary downturn 09:02am on 07 Jan 2009 Sorry for multiple posts, keeps telling me there was an HTML error every time I posted.
M&S: no ordinary downturn 09:00am on 07 Jan 2009 What a roller coaster you ride Robert

M and S down 8.9% is "truly horrible".

Only yesterday, you called Next's 7% slip "not as bad as it could have been".

Confused, moi?

What a shoddy business M and S must be, just scraping a £600M+ profit. Oh dear oh dear, how badly run it must be.
We are the banks 10:08am on 24 Dec 2008 Ten wishes for 2009:

1. Peston/BBC do some "business" reports on how small and medium sized businesses are coping with bad debts, reduced credit lines, falling order books and redundancies. You know those places where "hard working families everywhere" actually work.

2. Gordon Brown admits his role in the crisis (what crisis??). He cannot claim 9 years of growth, only dicate the year of the crash as being "global issues". Admit it was a lot his fault, and he will have many more supporers.

3. Vince Cable to sensationally defect to the Tories, to replace George Snob-bourne. An eminently nice bloke who talks in plain English, and looks like you dad. They can then hopefully create a new economic way to offer (some/any) credible alternative.

4. Bankers own up to their role, then repay some tax payers money by repaying their bonusses and ill gotten gains. Banks then focus on keeping depoists safe to reward savers, and prudently lending to real people for real things, with adequate cover. Oh, and we all be nice to the staff on the counters . . it's not their fault.

5. A moratorium on reposessions, until the banks have a clear policy. This should be matched by a moratorium on IVA's and personal bankruptcy, to stop people copping out from their responsibilities.

6. That the British Public makes it their duty to become informed on the effect of all the changes on their lives, so when that marvellous thing called Democracy kicks in and they wield their vote each soon, they choose on the basis of knowledge, not tabloid/BBC headlines.

7. Invest in British manufacturing - innovation, productivity and quality craftmanship. There is no point in a Buy British campaign, if we don't make or do anything anymore.

8. Widen the debate beyond the "new economy" to other related issues to the society we want for the next 30 years. What is our energy policy?? How will we use town centre shops lying empty, as the world moves online? Debate immigration and economic migration separately - what do we want and need??

9. Alexander Curzon to replace Lord Mandelson as MINISTER FOR BUSINESS

10. Over the next few days we can all appreciate those things in life which are free - our health; our families and children; our marvllous parks and countryside; the laughter and Company of friends - and take time to reflct that, despite how bad things will get, where our priorities do lie.

Merry Christmas all. Keep smiling.
How our banks were rescued 09:25am on 23 Dec 2008 Missed the Paranoia program, as watching a decent economic program called 'The Ascent of Money' on C4. Most interesting series to a layman.

From what I read above, the FSA, BoE and AD all deny seeing the bubble could burst. They got sucked in too didn't they.

They got blinded by the lights, because the Corporate Tax take, added to the Personal Tax take on the over-paid numpties running the banks (even with a good acocountant and a modicum of tax avoidance) was to answer to all their questions.

They may have seen the iceberg, but the huge tax take from sector was simply irresistable. It massively dwarfed the £13bn we have invested so far in banks, and was paid to GB EVERY year!!

Barcalys £8bn "record profit" = at least £2bn PER YEAR Tax. The others banks were not far behind. Correct me if I am wrong??

Greed blinded their judgement. Just like the bosses at the banks - a psychological state of ignorance, leading to arrogance and finally a sense of immortality, led to casino banking by the Treasury.
The New Capitalism - in video 10:01am on 22 Dec 2008 If we have a New Capitalism, we need to have a New Consumerism too?

Just 25 - 30 years ago:

- Most families had only one house
- Most families had only one car
- Most families had only one TV
- Most families had 2 parents
- Most families took one holiday per year, usually in Uk
- Most families knew their neighbours
- Most families grew their own fruit and veg
- Most families shopped locally, before Tesco was dominant

How quickly we have messed it all up??
2009 is payback year 09:11am on 15 Dec 2008 Taxpayers money?? There is not much left anyway. Where does AD/GB this going to come from?

Stamp duty down
Income tax down with record job losses
Corporation tax well down, esp. in financial services
VAT down 2.5% for a year, maybe longer
Another Black Friday 2:07pm on 12 Dec 2008 Guy Croft @ 133

Guy - I take what you say on board, and have some agreement. I am in manufacturing myself, and I know it is VERY hard work at present competing with tat imports.

But my point in #125 was about flawed business models. The government wants to keeep "viable" businesses going. How you assess viability today I do not know as the biggest risks we face are bankruptcy of either our customes or our busines critical suppliers, and less to do with what we do or make.

But business models like Woolworths were not beacons if excellence. American car makers make cars their public don't want any more. The inability of management to detect this, and re-focus has or will utlimately cost them, just as it costs any UK manufacturer who does not change.

Many UK manufacturers are caught in the middle. Can't afford to invest; can't afford not to invest. But we can't get away from the fundamental fact that businesses can only survive by providing customers what they want, when they want it and a price they perceive to be valuable to them. If the sums don't add up any more, STOP - there must be a shakeout and adjustment.

Running a business today can feel the loneliest place on this planet. No leadership or help form government; no forward planning by anyone; no informed predictions of what the future may look like - but you can onoy play the game in front of you.

Sincerely Guy - all the best in these tough times. No jets or bonusses to fall back on here either, just your house on the line every day as you face the wife and kids every tea time.

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