The Re-Invention of "The Sultan of Bling" from a Billion Dollar Empire - a Conversation with the Real Gerald Ratner

In this motivating and inspiring episode, Alex speaks with businessman, author and speaker Gerald Ratner. They talk about his famous speech in the Albert Hall, mindset and reinventing yourself. Sign up to Jessen's webinar here: https://bit.ly/bizwm   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Gerald was born in Richmond, London. His parents ran their first shop here, his Dad expanded to run six shops and they then moved to North West London and this is where Gerald went to school, he passed his 11+ successfully but he then struggled with the transition in secondary school.  All Gerald knew as a teenager is that he wanted to work in his Dad’s shops. He ended up doing so when he was expelled from his grammar school for not achieving. It took 20 years for Gerald to then take over the family business, this was when his Dad sadly developed a brain tumour. Gerald convinced his father and other directors that he should take over as managing director, at this point the shops were losing money so Gerald completely revamped the jewellers and changed them to appeal to a different demographic. It had a phenomenal effect and several years later the company was turning over 200 million. People who give you advice, often don't give it to you based on helping you but what will actually help them. You have to be wary of advice given to you in business. Gerald was invited to speak at the Royal Albert Hall, he was very excited and on advice of a colleague added in some jokes. However, one of the jokes was taken badly and the journalists ran with it framing Gerald as making fun of those who were struggling financially. Gerald knew this was bad press but he expected it to die down and go away, but this was not the case. Gerald ended up hiring a chairman for the business but this resulted in Gerald being fired by the person he hired! He not only lost his job but also a lot of money, his life completely changed in a very short amount of time.  Gerald recognises that the speech and the negative consequences because of it actually benefitted him in the long run. He wouldn't have achieved the things he did afterwards, he wouldn't be here doing this podcast! It was incredibly difficult at the time but he knows this is the way life goes sometimes, there's always a positive somewhere. If you understand that life is full of set backs, your life then becomes easier. You will not sail through life unaffected, once you accept there will be things you can't control and things that will be negative you can then focus on what you can control and move on. If you want to understand what a person thinks about themselves then listen to what they say about other people. If they are unpleasant about others then you know what their true feelings are about themselves. If all someone does is criticise others then they are clearly a very miserable person. There are so many people at the moment who need to reinvent themselves. Gerald is an expert in this, he had to completely start from scratch and he has now released a book on exactly that: Reinvent Yourself   BEST MOMENTS "You could say it was in my blood and I was born into it" "We went back to who we were, offering people value for money" "The advice I was given was to benefit them not to benefit me" "However terrible something is there is always a silver lining" "You cannot live with being unpopular with your bank" “I made a mistake, we all make mistakes, it doesn't mean you should be criticised for the rest of your life because you had a moment of bad judgement" "Business is about detail, you're not going to be a success overnight"   VALUABLE RESOURCES Business, Wealth and Mindset podcast series        ABOUT THE GUEST Gerald Ratner  is a British businessman and motivational speaker. He was formerly chief executive officer of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group (now the Signet Group). He achieved notoriety after making a speech in which he jokingly denigrated two of the company's products. He currently speaks around the world at corporate and promotional events.   Ratner joined the family business in 1966 and built up an extremely successful chain of jewellers during the 1980s, of which he was CEO. The shops shocked the formerly staid jewellery industry by displaying fluorescent orange posters advertising cut-price bargains and by offering low price ranges. The Ratners Group consisted of Ratners, H. Samuel, Ernest Jones, Leslie Davis, Watches of Switzerland and over 1000 shops in the US including Kays.   The speech The shops and their wares were extremely popular with the public, until Ratner made a speech addressing a conference of the Institute of Directors at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 April 1991. During the speech, he commented: We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total crap." He compounded this by going on to remark that one of the sets of earrings was "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long." Ratner's comments have become textbook examples of why CEOs should choose their words carefully.  In the furore that ensued, customers stayed away from Ratner shops. After the speech, the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the firm's collapse. Ratner hired a chairman in an attempt to stabilise the situation, but was subsequently fired by the new company leader in November 1992. The group then changed its name to Signet Group in September 1993. Today, Ratner's speech is still famous in the corporate world as an example of the value of branding and image over quality. Such gaffes are now sometimes called "doing a Ratner", and Ratner himself has acquired the sobriquet "The Sultan of Bling". Ratner has said in his defence that his remarks were not meant to be taken seriously. He also largely blamed the aggressiveness and deliberately wrongful interpretation of several media outlets for the severe consumer reaction. He set up a health club in Henley-on-Thames in 1996, which was sold for £3.9m in 2001. Ratner now runs, in collaboration with SB&T International Ltd, an export manufacturing company based in India and the online jewellery business Gerald Online.   In 2013, during a visit to India for the inaugural eTailing India Expo, Ratner announced that he would be entering the Indian market.    ABOUT THE HOST Alex is a prize-winning chartered accountant with experience in financial markets from trading finance, capital hedging, structural foreign exchange and interest rates to operational risk from the world’s top financial and advisory institutions including Deloitte, RBS and JPMorgan Chase Alex has been involved in property development programmes across different types since 2008, building and managing a portfolio that includes standard buy-to-lets, student accommodation and other houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs). He specialises in raising finance, providing potential investors, investors and joint venture partners with ad hoc (to their specific requirements), hands-free and hassle-free property investments solutions as well as coaching and mentoring Alex aspires to share business and financial knowledge with upcoming entrepreneurs and experienced business minds to learn and master the concepts and mindsets required to succeed, stand out, have the edge and make a difference. Alex is also a keen traveller, cyclist and photographer.   CONTACT METHOD Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alexsapalaofficial/ Twitter - @alex_sapala https://twitter.com/alex_sapala You Tube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgZ1DCPGAu5c2yhOkfGZRSQ