Good news, for some…
It would seem that Marks and Spencer have announced profits today of £632.5m for the last financial year. Chairman, Sir Stuart Rose has suggested that the UK has now come through the worst of the recession. In so many ways I would agree that it does sound like that especially with such profits being stated in the press.
The bad news, for some….
However, the bigger picture is that those profits have been achieved by squeezing the suppliers. Major retailers such as M & S, Next (reporting 18% increase in profit), Sainsburys (who recently boasted a 17% hike in profits), Tesco’s (who reported record profits) and others have been able to dictate prices to suppliers for a long time and the recession has certainly allowed them to hold all the power. As the CEO of a manufacturing SME in the Midlands during the worse of the recession we supplied shopfittings to the retail, leisure and construction sectors and I know first hand how these big players had no regard for the backbone of the UK. We were crippled – the phone’s stopped ringing in October 2008.
The sad news…
My family’s 106 year old business had no choice but to enter administration in March 2009 and I still wonder about all the other victims that have fallen by the wayside as a result of the recession – and in particular as a result of big retailers and car manufacturers ensuring they survived regardless. Of course as a businesswoman I understand the cut throat decisions that have to be made at times – that’s the duty of the directors but I just hope we realise that the headlines have a great deal more behind them and that the ongoing impact of the recession will cascade for months if not longer. What about the third sector and so many others?
The horizon in the UK is radically different now and we have a pool of highly skilled executives that have been thrown into the pot, professionals that have left or been discarded and it will be an interesting two years – of course we also have the new Government and faster moving technology… so interesting times ahead and they’ll be nothing like we have known before.
Having said all that, I still believe that we have a world of opportunities at our disposal and it’s time to seize them!
I’ve finally put one of my concepts for supporting young adults and children with careers advice and preparation for their life journey into a visual format! I now have a proof of concept to start making this idea a reality. The idea started to take form in 2009 after putting a company into administration.
I hear so often “I had a good idea…” but nothing ever happens! The easy bit is the idea but the real value is in the delivery. Seeing something through is certainly made easier when you absolutely believe in it 100%
What made things start to fall into place for me and this particular concept was seeing the latest book released by Gallup… “Wellbeing”. Basically the book looks at 5 areas that need to be nurtured in order for us to have complete ‘wellbeing’. It’s an area that fascinates me, from being a CEO of 100 employees and looking at reducing absenteeism to being frustrated by employability issues with young people. I also think that the last 12 months I have experienced have also allowed me to reflect and address a number of my own ‘wellbeing’ issues.
Gallup’s book is by Tom Rath and Jim Harter and explores areas that we all should take care of:
- Career Wellbeing
- Social Wellbeing
- Financial Wellbeing
- Physical Wellbeing
- Community Wellbeing
We’re absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of the Jeeves Services lifestyle management website ‘Jeeves Exclusive Living’.
Jeeves was something I started in January 2010 and we have gently shaped the brand towards lifestyle management.
What’s that?
Well, basically we provide a service to high profile and busy professional clients by taking care of anything that they do not have the time, expertise or inclination to do themselves. So we mainly arrange and manage house keeping, laundry, dog walking, landscaping, plumbing but equally can get asked to source Orangeries and corporate events for team building. This is provided through clients retaining our services on a membership basis.
Contact me to find out more on 07812 99 27 26 or email
Last month saw the first “Dani Saveker, Building on Strength” feature in Chatterbox, a West Midlands magazine.
This first article, which is many ways was just an introduction, explained a little of my own background and a brief overview of Savekers administration. We received some great feedback but the most touching email arrived in my in-box a few days later.
A lovely lady emailed me to say she and her husband had just read the magazine and came across my article. The reason for contacting me was because they had both worked for Savekers many years ago and indeed that was how they had met…
“My husband and I are in our 70’s and way back when we were teenagers we both worked at T Savekers in Phillips Street, Aston. I was employed by Mr Ron as Purchase Ledger Clerk and my husband started in the Steel shop under Mr Frank. I was there for about five years. My husband left to go into the RAF but we eventually married in 1955.
So without Saveker’s we would never have met.
I remember the building and the good times we had. The dashing Mr Derek who came in to look after despatch and all the females were after him. Mr Bert was a darling who taught me how to speak over the tannoy. Mr Ron was a wonderful boss and always said ‘well done’ when you balanced at the end of the month.
We both would like to wish you every success in your new venture I am sure you will succeed you have been through so much you deserve to.”
Of course I circulated this my family who were all deeply touched by the email. As a family run business we all had very strong ethics and this thoughtful message reminded us of what my Great Grandfather and relatives all stood for. So many couples met through the business and even had children that then worked for us. This is how we have chosen to remember Savekers Limited.
The next edition of Chatterbox features a piece on Employability
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