Doing a Ratner is a British business phrase referring to a chief executive or a senior person of a company who criticises the company's products or disparages the customers, frequently with disastrous results for both the person and the company. Generally, the only "gain" is massive amounts of bad publicity in the media. Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business. ... Chief Executive may refer to: Chief Executive of Hong Kong Chief Executive of Macau Chief Executive Officer This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The term company may refer to a separate legal entity, as in English law, or may simply refer to a business, as is the common use in the United States. ... Customers are waiting in front of a famous fashion shop for its grand opening in Hong Kong. ...

The Speech

Although widely regarded as "tacky", the Ratner shops and their wares were nevertheless extremely popular with the public, until Gerald Ratner made a speech at the Institute of Directors in April 1991. During the speech, he said: Doing a Ratner is a British business phrase referring to a chief executive or a senior person of a company who criticises the companys products or disparages the customers. ... The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a UK based organisation, incorporated by royal charter in 1903 to support, represent and set standards for company directors. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

He compounded this by going on to remark that some of the earrings were "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long" Marks and Spencer plc (known also as M&S and sometimes colloquially as Marks and Sparks) is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom by sales. ...

The speech was instantly seized upon by the media, an estimated £500m was wiped from the value of the company, he was given the boot 18 months later, and in 1994 the Ratner name was expunged from the company, renamed Signet Group. Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Signet Group plc is a British based jewellery retailer which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

Even today, Ratner's gaffe is still famous in the British Retail industry as an example on the value of branding and image over quality. Such gaffes are now sometimes called Doing a Ratner, and Ratner himself has acquired the soubriquet "The Sultan of Bling". Ratner has said in his defence that it was a private function which he did not expect to be reported, and his remarks were not made seriously.

Other executives who have "done a Ratner"

• In July 2001, David Shepherd, then brand director of the clothing chain Topman said in a trade journal "Menswear", that his customers were hooligans and "Very few of our customers have to wear suits to work. They'll be for his first interview or first court case."

• In March 2002, Woolworths' Gerald Corbett said, regarding Woolworths' progress at his stores, that "Some city centre stores are vast open deserts with nobody there."^[1]

• In March 2003, EMI's chief executive, Alain Levy said the company had cut the artist roster in Finland from 49 artists, as he did not think there were that many people in the country "who could sing". The joke went down like a lead balloon over in Helsinki, with the managing director of EMI's local subsidiary pointing out that the Finnish firm commanded a 20% share of the local market thanks to Finns who can sing^[2]

• In October 2003, Matt Barrett, the chief executive of Barclays (owner of Barclaycard, one of Britain's most popular credit cards) said on a parliamentary Treasury committee on credit cards, "I do not borrow on credit cards. I have four young children. I give them advice not to pile up debts on their credit cards."^[3][4] According to some people, this statement might sound more like an admission of truth on the subject of credit cards.

• Anders Dahlvig, the chief executive of furniture store IKEA, said his stores were "appalling" on weekends.^{[citation needed]}

• Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall, bosses of football club Newcastle United, said Geordie women were "dogs" and mocked fans for purchasing £50 replica football shirts that cost the club £5.

• In the United States, a Forest City Enterprises executive, developer Bruce Ratner, characterized his own Atlantic Center mall as "not something that we’re terribly proud of".^[5] Additionally, in May, 2004, he memorably insulted customers who live near the same mall to a NY Times reporter: "here you're in an urban area, you're next to projects, you've got tough kids,''^[6].

• On 3 June 2007 in an interview in the Financial Times, ^[7] Nicholas Ferguson, chairman of private equity firm SVG Capital, said that capital gains tax rules mean that many private equity executives "pay less tax than a cleaning lady". Media and political uproar ensued, and the asset class is now the subject of an ongoing investigation by a Treasury Select Committee into tax rules that see wealthy private equity executives pay 10% tax on carried interest, as opposed to the 40% income tax rate.

Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Topshop is a clothing retailer in the United Kingdom. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ultras at FC Twente - SC Heerenveen in 2002 Hooliganism is unruly and destructive behaviour, usually by gangs of young people. ... Suits from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog A suit, with varieties such as a business suit, three-piece suit, lounge suit or two-piece suit , comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of: a coat (commonly known as a jacket) a waistcoat (optional) (USA vest) — without this it is... interview An interview is a conversation between two or more people (The interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. ... This is a list of significant court cases. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... // About Woolworths Group plc is a general merchandise business in the United Kingdom. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Barclays Bank headquarters One Churchill Place, Canary Wharf Barclays plc (LSE: BARC, NYSE: BCS, TYO: 8642 ) is the fourth largest bank in the United Kingdom. ... The Barclaycard is a credit card associated with the Barclays Bank in the UK. It offers MasterCard and VISA versions. ... A credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. ... Map of IKEA stores from around the world. ... Freddy Shepherd is a businessman and chairman of Newcastle United, best known for bringing Michael Owen to the club in 2005. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the Australian soccer club see Newcastle United (Australia). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Forest City Enterprises is a diversified real estate management and development company based in Cleveland, Ohio. ... Bruce Ratner (born January 23, 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio) is president and CEO of Forest City Enterprises, New York Citys most active real estate developer during the 1990s. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... is the 154th day of the year (155th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Private equity is a broad term that refers to any type of equity investment in an asset in which the equity is not freely tradable on a public stock market. ... A capital gains tax (abbreviated: CGT) is a tax charged on capital gains, the profit realized on the sale of an asset that was purchased at a lower price. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        An income tax is a tax levied on the financial income...

References

1. ^ http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=271122002
2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3199822.stm
3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3199822.stm
4. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/10/17/cncred17.xml
5. ^ http://www.brooklynpapers.com/html/issues/_vol27/27_12/27_12nets3.html
6. ^ http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20617FB3E5A0C758EDDAC0894DC404482
7. ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d1ce2de0-1202-11dc-b963-000b5df10621.html

External links

• "Suffering from foot-in-mouth", an article in The Observer, October 19, 2003, describing several instances of company executives "doing a Ratner."
• Interview with Ratner, The Guardian, April 28, 2005