John Lewis - Never Knowingly Having Retail Experience.

[Rare Bear]

43 minutes ago, The Masked Tulip said:

 

But you wish to be Alice.

Is the Luther's Alice? A charming girl.

44 minutes ago, The Masked Tulip said:

 

But you wish to be Alice.

Maybe Alice with the White Rabbits?

[Option5]

48 minutes ago, The Masked Tulip said:

 

But you wish to be Alice.

Or a friend of Dorothy?

[The Masked Tulip]

6 minutes ago, Rare Bear said:

Is the Luther's Alice? A charming girl.

Maybe Alice with the White Rabbits?

 

[wherebee]

On 25/03/2021 at 01:59, Panther said:

You'd wonder if there was even a Letter of Intent, or if a council would even know what that was.

I can't give any details, but I was in a meeting a while back where a public entity was about to sign a contract for some simple equipment.  I asked 'what's the running costs, servicing costs, and replacement costs if something breaks?'.

They hadn't even fucking asked the vendor.  Could have been 40 times the retail price for each widget and they would have been on the hook for ever.

[spygirl]

8 hours ago, wherebee said:

I can't give any details, but I was in a meeting a while back where a public entity was about to sign a contract for some simple equipment.  I asked 'what's the running costs, servicing costs, and replacement costs if something breaks?'.

They hadn't even fucking asked the vendor.  Could have been 40 times the retail price for each widget and they would have been on the hook for ever.

When i was a school guvnoring ....... I banned the head teacher from ever approving a photo copier or electronic black board purchase.

The previous cretin had signed up for 7 years on a ridiculous increasing costs.

The initial price was low to get the idiots. Then the runninf constrained a lot, and extended the normal 5 years by 2 years.

 

 

[man o' the year]

7 minutes ago, spygirl said:

When i was a school guvnoring ....... I banned the head teacher from ever approving a photo copier or electronic black board purchase.

The previous cretin had signed up for 7 years on a ridiculous increasing costs.

The initial price was low to get the idiots. Then the runninf constrained a lot, and extended the normal 5 years by 2 years.

 

 

Copier contracts are killers. I saved enough to buy text books for every kid in the science department by buying a laser copier for my department. We were having deliveries of paper as big as the rest of the school before head noticed what I had done to avoid 7p per sheet charge we were charged by in school copying.

[MrPin]

16 minutes ago, spygirl said:

When i was a school guvnoring ....... I banned the head teacher from ever approving a photo copier or electronic black board purchase.

The previous cretin had signed up for 7 years on a ridiculous increasing costs.

The initial price was low to get the idiots. Then the runninf constrained a lot, and extended the normal 5 years by 2 years.

 

 

Well done. Are you sure you are not an accountant? Many here have "come out"!

[spygirl]

35 minutes ago, man o' the year said:

Copier contracts are killers. I saved enough to buy text books for every kid in the science department by buying a laser copier for my department. We were having deliveries of paper as big as the rest of the school before head noticed what I had done to avoid 7p per sheet charge we were charged by in school copying.

 

28 minutes ago, MrPin said:

Well done. Are you sure you are not an accountant? Many here have "come out"!

I am not an accountant.
Equally, I did not fall the boat.

And I do read business  contracts, which is what the school is signing up to.

'Oh the photo copier deal is really good value' They let us have it at cost.

OK, are there the other charges?

We pay xx per sheet.

OK, for how long.

7 years.

How much paper do you use?

<large number>

You what! You fucking idiot, That is costing you xxxxx <big sum,>

Oh.

First thing - move all paper communicate to digital/PDF.

Mail out the news letters by email and post on school site.

That alone saved the school somewhere along 5k/year. Every year.

Ove 7 years that 35k. On just the school-parent newsletters.

 

[Bedrag Justesen]

58 minutes ago, MrPin said:

Are you sure you are not an accountant? Many here have "come out"!

Despite lower discrimination in general since the advent of the pocket calculator, many accountants are still treated harshly in their day to day lives.

Even now the fear of being trapped in a social situation with someone who is openly working as an accountant is a serious threat to mental health.

[MrPin]

6 minutes ago, Bedrag Justesen said:

Despite lower discrimination in general since the advent of the pocket calculator, many accountants are still treated harshly in their day to day lives.

Even now the fear of being trapped in a social situation with someone who is openly working as an accountant is a serious threat to mental health.

There are "support groups".

[Bedrag Justesen]

3 minutes ago, MrPin said:

There are "support groups".

Many accountants suffer from depreciation.

[wherebee]

7 minutes ago, MrPin said:

There are "support groups".

but the run off rate is huge...

[Frank Hovis]

21 minutes ago, Bedrag Justesen said:

Many accountants suffer from depreciation.

 

We are all of us wasting assets; steadily amortising down to zero though sometimes with an early complete write-off.

[invalid]

John Lewis boss says firm has to give new staff basic literacy and numeracy classes because they have been 'completely failed' by education system

 

The usual and typical blame everyone else. I saw no mention of the parents in the article, as a parent if my kids did not have basic literacy and numeracy skills then that would be a failure on my part.

[spygirl]

18 minutes ago, invalid said:

John Lewis boss says firm has to give new staff basic literacy and numeracy classes because they have been 'completely failed' by education system

 

The usual and typical blame everyone else. I saw no mention of the parents in the article, as a parent if my kids did not have basic literacy and numeracy skills then that would be a failure on my part.

Posted on this.

JL do not recruit young, poor kids to work in its shops.

Typical JL employee is a 50yo woman.

 

[Poseidon]

18 minutes ago, invalid said:

John Lewis boss says firm has to give new staff basic literacy and numeracy classes because they have been 'completely failed' by education system

 

The usual and typical blame everyone else. I saw no mention of the parents in the article, as a parent if my kids did not have basic literacy and numeracy skills then that would be a failure on my part.

They are just 'incompetence shaming'.

Not the new staffs fault they don't know anything.  John Lewis needs to be boycotted.

 

[Option5]

On 14/06/2021 at 20:40, The Masked Tulip said:

 

 You're obsessed. 

 

 

 

 

It was my first thought also.

 

[Poseidon]

18 minutes ago, invalid said:

John Lewis boss says firm has to give new staff basic literacy and numeracy classes because they have been 'completely failed' by education system

 

The usual and typical blame everyone else. I saw no mention of the parents in the article, as a parent if my kids did not have basic literacy and numeracy skills then that would be a failure on my part.

They are just 'incompetence shaming'.

Not the new staffs fault they don't know anything.  John Lewis needs to be boycotted.

 

[Funn3r]

On 15/06/2021 at 11:17, Bedrag Justesen said:

Despite lower discrimination in general since the advent of the pocket calculator, many accountants are still treated harshly in their day to day lives.

Even now the fear of being trapped in a social situation with someone who is openly working as an accountant is a serious threat to mental health.

I was on a pension committee at work and when I asked what an "actuary" was they told me it was someone who had found accountancy too exciting.

[Bedrag Justesen]

43 minutes ago, spygirl said:

Typical JL employee is a 50yo woman.

Last time JL was open, little huddles of 50+ Mums were spread around like penguins.

Seemed rude to interrupt them.

M&S clothing department worse.

No Country For Young Men.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Bedrag Justesen

[Bedrag Justesen]

14 minutes ago, Bedrag Justesen said:

Little huddles of 50+ Mums were spread around like penguins.

Actually, could say the same about DWP.

Maybe JL and M&S are public sector.

[dgul]

Forget shops!  The future is in residential property!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57712618

Quote

John Lewis has announced plans to move into the residential property market by building 10,000 homes for rental over the next few years.

They're not exactly mad, but it isn't sensible.

I'd say that the shareholders should be wanting to know why it would be best to leave their cash with M&S so that M&S (experts in retail) can invest in property, compared with taking the money and investing in a property company (experts in property).  I'd say they should also be very interested in the risk being taken on (and where the reward for that risk ends up).

I predict that if they do this it'll lead to the collapse of the company within 10 years (prob. closer to 5, but they'd have to actually start doing it, which might take a little while)

 

[spygirl]

7 minutes ago, dgul said:

Forget shops!  The future is in residential property!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57712618

They're not exactly mad, but it isn't sensible.

I'd say that the shareholders should be wanting to know why it would be best to leave their cash with M&S so that M&S (experts in retail) can invest in property, compared with taking the money and investing in a property company (experts in property).  I'd say they should also be very interested in the risk being taken on (and where the reward for that risk ends up).

I predict that if they do this it'll lead to the collapse of the company within 10 years (prob. closer to 5, but they'd have to actually start doing it, which might take a little while)

 

The department store chain said it wanted to address the national housing shortage and support local communities.

Why not go for world peace too?

[spygirl]

"As a business driven by social purpose, we have big ambitions for moving into property rental," said Nina Bhatia, executive director of strategy and commercial development for the John Lewis Partnership.

• 

  Executive Director, Strategy & Commercial Development

  John Lewis Partnership

  Feb 2020 - Present1 year 6 months

• 

  Managing Partner

  Pacemakers.io

  Oct 2018 - Present2 years 10 months

  London, United Kingdom

  The Pacemakers partnership specialises in helping business implement digital change with a focus on banking, payments and financial services.

• 

  Non Executive Director

  Domestic & General

  Apr 2019 - Present2 years 4 months

  London, United Kingdom

  NED at the UK’s leading specialist warranty provider.

• 

  Advisory Board Member

  Cambridge Judge Business School

  May 2015 - Present6 years 3 months

  Cambridge, United Kingdom

• 

  Managing Director, Centrica Connected Home (Hive)

  Hive | Centrica Hive Limited

  Jul 2015 - Jan 20182 years 7 months

  London, United Kingdom

• 

  British Gas

  5 years 2 months

  • MD, Commercial & Connected Homes

    Jan 2014 - Jun 20151 year 6 months

    London, United Kingdom

  • Managing Director, BG Connected Homes, Strategy & M&A

    Oct 2012 - Dec 20131 year 3 months

    London, United Kingdom

  • Managing Director Electrical and Dyno Services

    May 2010 - Oct 20122 years 6 months

    London, United Kingdom

    E&DS is a national home services business with revenues in excess of £330m and c.2000 employees. It provides white goods, home electrics, drainage, plumbing and security services to over 1.2m customers. The business includes DynoRod, which has a national footprint of over 60 franchisees.

• 

  Member Board Of Trustees

  Save the Children International

  Jan 2010 - Jan 20133 years 1 month

  Worldwide

• 

  Partner

  McKinsey & Company

  Sep 1987 - May 201022 years 9 months

  London, United Kingdom

  Global consulting firm, with over 7000 consultants in 40+ countries. The firm advises corporations, governments and institutions on strategy, organisation and operations, across all significant sectors. Elected Partner in 1999.
  • Member of McKinsey’s UK Management Committee,
  • Leader, UK Government practice; co-lead, Healthcare practice,

Education

• Harvard Business School

  Harvard Business School

  Master of Business Administration (MBA)

  1989 - 1991

• Cambridge University
   

[satch]

I would have thought that Mr & Mrs Satch are the people JL should be targeting. JL are supposed to be a retail giant and probably know next to nothing about domestic rental property. But when your business is struggling it is all too easy to look at another sector and see easy profit especially when you know nothing about the other business.

Looking around we have cloths, bedding. furnishings and curtains plus other stuff from JL bought over the last 25 plus years. However more recent stuff has been bought from Wilco. Are we short of cash? Not really, but we like all older people love a bargain and a freebie. Waitrose no longer do the free coffee which is understandable due to Covid, JL no longer do the free drink and cake voucher for JL Cardholders, even though their cafes are now open again. So since JL opened after the last shutdown I have not actually been inside JL, we have lost the habit. Been inside Waitrose which is in the basement of JL in Kingston many times, but not the main shop.

All this rainbow and woke signalling will more likely to keep me out of the shop. It will be positive virtue signalling for some oldies who are down wiv de kids and are woke and the ‘woke generation’ themselves plus the overweight middle-age women who work in the public sector. If these are the core demographics for the new woke JL then JL will be gone in a few years. They will have awful results for the next couple of years and can blame Covid and the ‘transition’ to a new business model. The woke management will get fired and paid off and the re-structured company will be bought by US private equity and loaded up with debt while massive management fees are paid to the investors… you know the rest of the story.

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by satch