Love thy neighbour and don’t accept failure – chamber members told

BE good unto thy neighbour was the resouding message sent out to guests at York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce’s annual gala dinner.

The advice was part of an address to an audience of 600 business leaders given by chamber president Shaun Watts.

Mr Watts told guests: “Now, more than ever we should be looking at how we can support each other.

“I would urge all members to support each other to stop money haemorrhaging out of this region to give us a chance to succeed and stimulate growth.”

But his wasn’t the only advice on the night. Also speaking at the event, which was held at York’s National Railway Musuem, was former jewellery magnet and corporate “gaffe king” Gerald Ratner, whose famous derogatory comments over the quality of his stock saw his empire collapse overnight back in 1990.

Mr Ratner certainly entertained the audience with brief, funny yet brutal recollections of what happened following his now infamous Albert Hall speech, which included the comment that a gold ring sold for a £1 wouldn’t last as long as a Marks & Spencers sandwich.

At the time, Mr Ratner was chief excutive of a company that could do no wrong, boasted 2,500 stores and profits in excess of £120m.

The gaffe eventually cost him his job (the chairman he hired fired him instantly), saw debts soar to £1bn, and rendered him unemployable for three years.

“I was a piriah,” he told the audience.

“I sent off 20 job applications and got 21 rejections. One was from both the chief excutive and finance director who said they didn’t even want me to mention that I’d ever contacted them.”

However, after being prompted by his wife to pull himself together, he bought a health club, which he later sold for £3.9m and now heads online jewellery business geraldonline, which boasts a £75m turnover.

But it was his final words that resonated: “If I can come back from my fall then anyone can.”