CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
£2.5K TO £5K
AFTER DINNER SPEAKERS
£2.5K TO £5K
"Gerald was excellent. We have no hesitation in recommending him."
Toyota
YOUR FEEDBACK
"A fascinating display of resilience, self-deprecating humour and lessons in 'what not to do'. Gerald surpassed all our expectations."
KPMG
WIKIPEDIA
TOPICS
Retailing, Overcoming Adversity
SPEECH TITLES
Overcoming major setbacks
Recovering from disaster
BIOGRAPHY
Gerald Ratner took over the family jewellery chain in the mid 80s, becoming one of Britain's best known businessmen. He transformed it from 130 stores with sales of £13m to a public company with 2,500 stores and sales of over £1.2bn. By 1990, Ratner's was the world's largest jewellery retailer with profits in excess of £120m.
Following a widely reported gaffe in which he compared his products to M&S prawn sandwiches, Gerald was forced to sell the business. Reduced to virtually nothing and shunned by banks and prospective employers, he eventually picked himself up and clawed his way back - first with a health club then with geraldonline. The Internet jewellery business is now the largest in the sector, perhaps presaging a return to the high street.
After turning around his fortunes, Gerald talks with typical candour and a great deal of humour about the rollercoaster journey. He even raises a smile when he produces The Sun's list of the '50 biggest mistakes of all time' - in which his is ranked top!
© Copyright JLA: All Rights Reserved
Q&A
JLA: What advice would you give to someone starting a business?
GR: It's hard to grow a business from scratch... but exciting! I was a bit naïve and didn't realise all the obstacles. Don't get put off by bureaucracy - I just went for it. It's easy to say this is an impossible mountain to climb so I won't do it, which is a sad situation - there's nothing better than being your own boss!
JLA: How can you transform your reputation for customer service?
GR: We were the first to introduce a 30 day money back guarantee - everyone said we were mad, but it worked. We were whiter than white, and people believed in us. Price is very important but if you can also offer a guarantee, people think you must be confident in your product.
It's good business to be as helpful as possible. We get a hell of a lot of referrals because people are amazed at our level of service. People say it is a delight to speak to someone who is aware of the situation and can deal with it straight away.