Episode 43

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:00:27. > :00:31.burglary. Now BBC News, time for This is Show Me The Money, your

:00:31. > :00:37.guide to who is making cash, how and what it means for the way we

:00:37. > :00:41.work. With us to night, Jim McCarthy is the man in charge of

:00:41. > :00:45.Poundland. Taking a bite out of the millions that men spend on shaving

:00:45. > :00:49.and grooming, the entrepreneur Simon Duffy, founder of Bulldog,

:00:49. > :00:54.and seeing past a slick faced that business puts forward, Sarah Bridge

:00:54. > :00:57.from the Mail on Sunday. Another weekend, another crisis for Greece

:00:57. > :01:01.and its massive debts. Greece is desperately trying to find more

:01:01. > :01:07.things to cut. The Prime Minister has cancelled a trip to America to

:01:07. > :01:11.chair a meeting of his ministers. Priest got over 100 billion euros

:01:11. > :01:13.from its neighbours but they will only release the money in return

:01:13. > :01:18.for Greece cutting its spending. Greece needs the next instalment of

:01:18. > :01:21.eight billion euro by mid-October, or it will run out of cash. But

:01:21. > :01:27.when the neighbours finance ministers met on Friday they

:01:27. > :01:31.delayed signing the cheque because they want more cuts. Sarah Bridge,

:01:31. > :01:36.we start our discussion with you on this. Greece has already cut

:01:36. > :01:41.spending. It has raised taxes. Other European nations are saying

:01:41. > :01:45.we want more. Is there a political will, the political appetite

:01:45. > :01:48.increase, to deliver even more savings? I think there is now

:01:48. > :01:52.definitely the cancellation of the trip to Washington means the

:01:52. > :01:56.government is getting down to business. From tomorrow they are

:01:56. > :02:00.going to start cutting jobs. They have public sector cuts, pension

:02:00. > :02:04.cuts, they have taxes on energy. There is no option, Greece will run

:02:04. > :02:11.out of money in mid-October unless they get this loan through. This is

:02:11. > :02:15.not an idle threat, sabre-rattling. If this money, this is still the

:02:15. > :02:19.first bale-out. There is another to be agreed, the final details, but

:02:19. > :02:22.they need that too. That is a real possibility that Greece could

:02:22. > :02:26.default and that has a huge knock- on effect for the eurozone banks

:02:26. > :02:30.and the rest of Europe. The problem for the banks, if Greece can't pay

:02:30. > :02:37.her debts back on schedule, and on the people who don't get their

:02:37. > :02:40.money on time are those banks in Germany and France. Definitely, we

:02:40. > :02:44.have seen French banks having to be downgraded because of their

:02:44. > :02:47.exposure to the great debt and it is not just in the eurozone. We

:02:47. > :02:51.have British banks who are exposed through debt to part of the bail-

:02:51. > :02:56.out. If we'd -- if Greece defaults and can't pay money back, people

:02:56. > :02:59.are in trouble. If we can broaden this out to what it means that

:02:59. > :03:05.businesses doing trading with Greece, trading with Europe, you

:03:05. > :03:09.are trying to expand in Greece. -- in Europe. You have operations in

:03:09. > :03:13.northern Europe already. What does this mean to you? Like every small

:03:13. > :03:17.business we are looking to grow in Europe. Anything that creates a

:03:17. > :03:21.financial volatility uncertainty in Europe is bad for us. We are about

:03:21. > :03:25.to launch in Germany and 3,000 supermarkets. We're really excited

:03:25. > :03:27.about that. We think there are lots more growth opportunities for

:03:27. > :03:32.Bulldog but anything that destabilise his or takes away

:03:32. > :03:36.confidence, it is not good for small British business. That is the

:03:36. > :03:40.keyword, confident. That is right. When times are cuff -- tough,

:03:40. > :03:45.people are less likely to spend money, corporations will not take a

:03:45. > :03:48.risk on a company from overseas. What we are hoping for is stability

:03:48. > :03:52.and confidence throughout Europe and how they handle the Greek

:03:52. > :03:57.financial crisis is a key part over the next six months. You are

:03:57. > :04:01.expanding in Europe as well. Your business is called Poundland. In

:04:01. > :04:04.this country. When you grew in Ireland you decided not to call it

:04:04. > :04:09.euro land but to call it something else as well. What does that tell

:04:09. > :04:16.you about what people think about the euro and the project and the

:04:16. > :04:22.problems that surround it? Well, we clearly couldn't enter the country

:04:22. > :04:29.with the euro at Calle ASOS Poundland. So what we did -- and

:04:29. > :04:33.call ourselves Poundland. So what we did was talk to consumers and we

:04:33. > :04:39.also talked to consumers in Europe because one day we hope to go there

:04:39. > :04:43.as well. What came out was real emotion about the effects and the

:04:43. > :04:52.impact that the average person felt that the euro had had on their

:04:52. > :04:57.lives and they were very clear that they didn't want us to call the new

:04:57. > :05:03.chain euro anything, so we asked them to suggest names and we put

:05:03. > :05:08.names in ourselves and the name Deal came out, which will transfer

:05:08. > :05:10.from Ireland to Europe as well and that came out as a clear winner.

:05:10. > :05:16.Your research told you the euro name was in consumers' minds

:05:16. > :05:24.tarnished. Absolutely. Jim McCarthy, thank you very much. Time now for

:05:24. > :05:29.Boom or Bust, the quick one-two. What do you think this is? It is

:05:29. > :05:33.not the last week tour of Britain cycle race. It is 128 people are

:05:33. > :05:37.provided all the power foreign musical concert in Italy. It was

:05:37. > :05:41.billed as the country's first entirely eco-friendly event. The

:05:41. > :05:47.band, called Wooden Heads, had the idea because they are keen on all

:05:47. > :05:49.things green and perhaps also people in tight-fitting shorts! A

:05:49. > :05:52.pair of rugby fans were left in a rut when they arrived in New

:05:52. > :05:57.Zealand for the World Cup. They thought they had booked a hotel in

:05:57. > :06:00.Eastbourne, Wellington. The booking was a hotel -- was in the town of

:06:00. > :06:03.Eastbourne on the south coast of England! The man who made the

:06:03. > :06:07.booking says he thought it was strange when the hotel wanted

:06:07. > :06:12.payment in pounds rather than in New Zealand dollars. They say

:06:12. > :06:16.married life is full of ups and downs. A couple in America started

:06:16. > :06:20.as they meant to go on. They got married on a roller-coaster. That

:06:21. > :06:27.is one way of keeping the guest list down. You could say it was on

:06:27. > :06:32.the buffet afterwards as well. We start with Simon and the cycling

:06:32. > :06:37.concert. This shows that there is no barrier to the greening of

:06:37. > :06:39.business, where you live. I don't think there is. There has never

:06:39. > :06:42.been a better time for green businesses to seek to do innovative

:06:42. > :06:47.things. We see lots of gross and brilliant small businesses using

:06:47. > :06:52.the opportunity that this great -- this hunger for green technology

:06:52. > :06:55.creates. A how green is your business? Do your customers expect

:06:55. > :06:59.you to be sustainable, to account for all the products that you used

:06:59. > :07:04.to make your materials? Yes, absolutely. It is getting more

:07:04. > :07:08.important. The ethical company died just announced that Bulldog was the

:07:08. > :07:11.most ethical company in skincare, male or female skin care, and we

:07:11. > :07:16.have done that when we have got through tremendous growth. It has

:07:16. > :07:19.been a difficult time. There has never been a better time for a

:07:19. > :07:21.green business that is transparent to grow in the UK. Jim McCarthy,

:07:21. > :07:25.your business has done well in tough times. When people are

:07:25. > :07:32.watching every penny that they spend do they really care about the

:07:32. > :07:38.whole green agenda? A think the true answer to that is if you put

:07:38. > :07:41.an organic product best to a stag - - next to a standard product and

:07:41. > :07:45.have the same price, the consumer will choose organic. They would

:07:45. > :07:49.like to be agreed. Unfortunately large numbers cannot afford to at

:07:49. > :07:54.the moment. That limits their choice. It would be lovely but hard

:07:54. > :08:00.economics do give them their choice. Sarah, the rugby fans who booked in

:08:00. > :08:04.Eastbourne but entirely the wrong Eastbourne, it is a lesson that you

:08:04. > :08:07.need to be careful when you buy online. I think so. It is easy to

:08:07. > :08:11.be seduced into the slickness, you click your mouse and you have

:08:11. > :08:15.bought something but you must check the small print. It is difficult

:08:15. > :08:18.when you are buying on live. A friend of mine bought some online

:08:18. > :08:23.groceries and ordered lots of bananas and was given a

:08:23. > :08:30.substitution of bananas and pyjamas CD, which was a children's TV

:08:30. > :08:33.programme. Obviously it is bananas and the computer says... Anyone who

:08:33. > :08:38.has programmed a sat nav wrong knows that you are the mercy of

:08:38. > :08:43.technology. Being sure what you get in business, but also must apply

:08:43. > :08:46.when you are dealing with your suppliers? Yes, it is incredibly

:08:46. > :08:48.important that you are providing a quality product and a safe product

:08:48. > :08:52.so every business has to work hard to make sure they understand how

:08:52. > :08:56.their products are made and that they are safe and effective. What

:08:56. > :08:59.is the worst mistake you have made ordering something online? That is

:08:59. > :09:04.a good one. Brian Moore was on Amazon looking for things for gifts

:09:04. > :09:09.and I have often got the wrong thing -- I am constantly on Amazon.

:09:09. > :09:14.You are holding back. Most embarrassing for you? I tend to buy

:09:14. > :09:17.in bulk when I am ordering online so you can get a lot of stuff at

:09:17. > :09:22.Triton at leisure in your home then send it back, which is great for me

:09:22. > :09:28.but perhaps not for the retailer. Do you have online business?

:09:28. > :09:32.yet. Is is something you are tempted to do? Definitely, we have

:09:32. > :09:37.to offer consumers choices. We will do but not yet. When you order

:09:37. > :09:41.bananas they get fruit rather than a CD. The last story on our list,

:09:41. > :09:44.the married life, the couple who got married on the roller-coaster.

:09:44. > :09:47.A great gimmick, it got them attention. Gimmicks are an

:09:47. > :09:52.important part of grabbing customers' attention, were the

:09:52. > :09:58.Warwick Business? Absolutely. All businesses are competing strongly

:09:58. > :10:01.at the moment for decreasing consumer spend, so gimmicks,

:10:01. > :10:07.whether they come in the form of loyalty cards or reward cards,

:10:07. > :10:10.coupons, buy one get one free, if that captures the imagination of

:10:10. > :10:14.your consumer and brings them into your shop and you satisfy them,

:10:14. > :10:17.that has to be good for business. There is a lot of competition on

:10:17. > :10:22.these innovations and the ones who get it right are most successful.

:10:22. > :10:25.The you have to have delivery with it. You have to deliver. Simon,

:10:25. > :10:28.when you are having meetings with all powerful buyers at the

:10:28. > :10:32.supermarket chains, trying to persuade them to take your products

:10:32. > :10:36.and put them on their shelves, you have to offer gimmicks as part of

:10:36. > :10:40.the deal? I don't mean for them personally but as part of what

:10:40. > :10:43.customers will be offered? I think you have to show you are going to

:10:43. > :10:46.be able to sell the products over the course of a trading cycle but

:10:46. > :10:49.the most important thing is you have something that is unique, no

:10:49. > :10:52.one else is doing it in the market so that will excite their customers

:10:52. > :10:56.and you can explain it well to the buyers that you speak with.

:10:56. > :11:00.need to approach the right person. It is really important. These are

:11:00. > :11:03.huge corporations. If you can get to the right person you stand a

:11:03. > :11:08.better chance as a small business of getting your idea heard which is

:11:08. > :11:12.so important. Let's talk more about your business, Jim. Something about

:11:12. > :11:16.you first of all. And in use today, Nick Clegg telling the Liberal-

:11:16. > :11:19.Democrats in Birmingham that getting rid of that 50 p rate of

:11:19. > :11:25.tax for high earners is not going to beat the Government's immediate

:11:25. > :11:29.tax priority. You are one of the people who have worked hard enough,

:11:29. > :11:34.or fortunate enough, to pay back 50 p rate. Would you rather you

:11:34. > :11:39.weren't paying 50 p in the pound? Yes, absolutely! You have to be

:11:39. > :11:44.crazy to say you want to pay higher taxes. The honest answer is I don't

:11:44. > :11:47.want to pay 50p. Stuart Rose asked this question a couple of weeks ago.

:11:47. > :11:52.He said given the circumstances we are in, he was quite happy paying

:11:52. > :11:58.it. Stuart Rose is entitled to his opinion. I am not happy paying it

:11:58. > :12:02.but I understand why that has been introduced, but I don't necessarily

:12:02. > :12:07.agree but I do understand. You are not one of these people saying if

:12:07. > :12:12.it is not but I am leaving, I am off? No, I love this country. I

:12:12. > :12:16.abstain. Let's talk about the business, everything for �1. How do

:12:16. > :12:20.you do that? Are you selling stuff that is going to go off? What is

:12:20. > :12:24.the trick? We serve 3.7 million customers each week. They know what

:12:24. > :12:29.value looks like and they are careful how they spend. We have 21

:12:29. > :12:33.years of experience. We have a skilled trading team. Our growth in

:12:33. > :12:37.store numbers, we have been growing strongly, gives us higher volumes

:12:37. > :12:40.and suppliers have to invest in retailers that are showing them

:12:41. > :12:45.growth and that enables us to keep the costs down. We have a low-cost

:12:45. > :12:51.model. We sometimes will take at low margins than other retailers

:12:51. > :12:54.will, because of the high volumes we sell. Put all those things

:12:54. > :13:04.together and the careful cost control right through the business,

:13:04. > :13:08.that is how we are able to continue There is more to it than cost

:13:08. > :13:18.control. You can go to the manufacturers' and they can develop

:13:18. > :13:22.a new product so that it costs �1 in the shops. Yes, we have sunk

:13:22. > :13:25.real growth in primary manufacturers and suppliers deal

:13:25. > :13:29.directly with us, people like Procter and Gamble, who have

:13:29. > :13:34.developed specifically for us very high-value products we can sell for

:13:34. > :13:39.a pound. There is increasing recognition from suppliers that the

:13:39. > :13:44.discount channel is becoming more and more important for consumers

:13:44. > :13:49.right across the spectrum. They know your stuff is saved. Does this

:13:49. > :13:56.mean fewer Maltesers in the box? How does that conversation go?

:13:56. > :14:00.is a great observation because it actually happened with Maltesers.

:14:00. > :14:07.Manufacturers also recognise that to keep the costs down they

:14:07. > :14:16.sometimes reduce the contents. But the Maltesers are still more

:14:16. > :14:21.enjoyable. A bit more air. What happens if there is a rise in

:14:21. > :14:25.commodity prices and it goes above �1 and you cannot get it below �1.

:14:25. > :14:31.What do you do then? The it is a tough decision because some of

:14:31. > :14:35.these decisions affect very high- volume products. Coffee would be an

:14:35. > :14:40.example and sugar would be an example. We know that food

:14:40. > :14:46.inflation is running very high and cost inflation is running high. We

:14:46. > :14:51.have to take tough decisions sometimes and we would not have a

:14:51. > :14:56.product that we can now offer -- offered to our customers. It is

:14:56. > :15:01.tough decisions, but there is a change sometimes in the range

:15:01. > :15:06.necessitated by cost inflation. have worked at senior level across

:15:06. > :15:09.the retail industry. You work that Sainsbury's at one point and I hear

:15:09. > :15:14.they were upset when you left because they saw you as a rising

:15:15. > :15:22.talent. Why did you leave? I loved Sainsbury's and enjoyed working

:15:22. > :15:26.there, but I had personal issues with deaths and illnesses in the

:15:26. > :15:31.family and I needed to spend more time with my family in the Midlands.

:15:31. > :15:36.The pound lands job was available. It is more luck than anything and

:15:37. > :15:41.for the right reasons that is why I am there. Do you see yourself

:15:41. > :15:48.running Sainsbury's? I think I am too old for that. I think Justin

:15:48. > :15:52.has made a great go of it. If your boss had to reveal the gap between

:15:52. > :15:58.their pay and your pay, would it shamed yobbos into taking a smaller

:15:58. > :16:02.pay packet? That is what Vince Cable is hoping. It is one of the

:16:02. > :16:05.things he is said to be considering for every boardroom in the country

:16:05. > :16:11.and he will tell us tomorrow what he is going to force companies to

:16:11. > :16:15.do. Sorry to start with you again on this one, but we heard during

:16:16. > :16:20.the week that Mark Bolland who runs Marks & Spencer gets a Petr Cech

:16:20. > :16:30.that is 600 times larger than the Petr Cech pour his lowest-paid

:16:30. > :16:30.

:16:30. > :16:36.employee. What is the gap between you and your lowest-paid workers?

:16:36. > :16:41.think it is somewhere between 30 and 35 times. A much smaller gap

:16:41. > :16:45.and some other larger companies. Yes, but Mark has got a huge job to

:16:45. > :16:50.do. If that information were made public and you were forced by

:16:50. > :16:57.legislation to publish that in some sort of form, would that make you

:16:57. > :17:01.reconsider the size of your pay packet? Well, my salary is in a

:17:01. > :17:06.report that comes out each year, so that his public information. What

:17:06. > :17:11.is not shown is the contrast between the lowest paid and myself.

:17:11. > :17:16.Would it change the behaviour of companies? I think probably not. I

:17:16. > :17:21.think it is for the shareholders to decide if directors are paid too

:17:21. > :17:30.much and if they are not doing a good job. Then they should put them

:17:30. > :17:35.out. This is the flaw in this plan. It is using the code of public

:17:35. > :17:40.opinion to name and shame buses. But if you are taking a pay packet

:17:40. > :17:45.of that size already, you do not care who knows about it. I think

:17:45. > :17:49.you are probably right. Quite a lot of these companies already give out

:17:49. > :17:53.information anywhere. If you had to reveal it, companies could get

:17:53. > :18:00.around it by comparing the basic rate of pay and forgetting about

:18:00. > :18:05.incentives or burners performances or share options. I think,

:18:05. > :18:08.unfortunately, there is no particular link between company

:18:08. > :18:12.performance and executive pay. Maybe it would be good if there

:18:12. > :18:17.were less of the executive salaries that was so active cutter, but I do

:18:17. > :18:22.not think this would change a lot to be honest. Why is he raising

:18:22. > :18:25.this as an issue over and over again? I think there is a public

:18:25. > :18:30.opinion that is against excessive pay, especially if a company is

:18:30. > :18:34.forced to make people redundant or they are making a loss. You saw

:18:34. > :18:39.that with banking bonuses and chief executive pay in the banking crisis.

:18:39. > :18:43.Quite a lot of the bosses were not the top earners in their company.

:18:43. > :18:50.Some of them were the traders are making all the risky decisions. It

:18:50. > :18:54.is very much a reward in short-term performances. The whole argument

:18:54. > :18:58.about pay in companies like you is that are just starting out or are

:18:58. > :19:02.just a couple of years into their existence, it is different because

:19:02. > :19:05.the owner of the company gets paid nothing. I went without a salary

:19:05. > :19:11.for a year-and-a-half and now the difference between the top earner

:19:11. > :19:15.and the bottom burner is minute. I think that is really important when

:19:15. > :19:20.you are starting out. Everybody has to turn their hands to a lot of

:19:20. > :19:26.tasks and there is the team ethos at the beginning of a company.

:19:26. > :19:31.know at some point you will earn up -- end up earning a lot more.

:19:31. > :19:35.point seems to go further and further away. We are working really

:19:35. > :19:39.hard to make ends meet and to continue to grow. Everything we

:19:39. > :19:43.make goes straight back into the business to expand the brand or

:19:43. > :19:50.expand overseas. I do not see a point where these kinds of

:19:50. > :19:55.conversations are relevant to us. More people are out of work. The

:19:55. > :20:04.latest unemployment figures out this week showed over 2.5 million

:20:04. > :20:10.people who could be in work do not have a job. The dole queues will be

:20:11. > :20:18.swollen by the armed forces between now and 2015. They have a lot of

:20:18. > :20:23.skills, but can they work on civvy street?

:20:23. > :20:28.While Britain's troops are engaged in military operations overseas

:20:28. > :20:31.they now face budget and job cuts on the home front. For those

:20:31. > :20:37.leaving the services it means entering unknown territory,

:20:37. > :20:42.civilian life. Service personnel can find the transition tough going.

:20:42. > :20:47.Many people suffer from grief. Once Aggers and closes, they grieving

:20:47. > :20:50.for their friends and people they left behind. The second thing they

:20:50. > :20:55.encounter is a strange environment they are not used to. Freedom is

:20:55. > :21:01.one of those things, it causes apprehension. If they are not

:21:01. > :21:05.successful in getting a job quickly, there self Eksteen diminishes. If

:21:05. > :21:11.that happens, the quickest way of compensating his alcohol and that

:21:11. > :21:15.is the well-documented away and we have to stop that happening. To des

:21:15. > :21:20.forces face the biggest reorganisation in living memory.

:21:20. > :21:25.22,000 servicemen and women will be out of a job by 2015, the year in

:21:25. > :21:30.which we are due to pull out of Afghanistan. What is it like

:21:31. > :21:37.leaving the military? Simon, you joined the Army Act 19? Yes, I had

:21:37. > :21:41.14 years of service and left at the age of 32. It is a long time. How

:21:41. > :21:46.did you find the new environment when you're applying for jobs?

:21:46. > :21:51.hardest thing is trying to work out what you want to do. I was a pilot

:21:51. > :21:56.and I knew I did not want to be a pilot outside. I had to work out

:21:56. > :22:01.what I wanted to do. I had never done interviewing, I had never

:22:01. > :22:07.written a CV. That was quite tough even though I had decided what I

:22:07. > :22:13.wanted to do. What did you find the hardest thing? It was what I wanted

:22:13. > :22:18.to do. I went round seeing all sorts of different companies. I saw

:22:18. > :22:21.a big advertising agency who said they would love to offer me a job,

:22:21. > :22:27.but that would be if you were 10 years younger. I felt very much on

:22:27. > :22:32.the shelf. All leavers receive a settlement and careers advice from

:22:32. > :22:36.the MoD for up to two years, but ex-servicemen like Simon say

:22:36. > :22:40.potential employers often do not know how to handle those who lack

:22:40. > :22:47.commercial experience. Some agencies are trying to bridge that

:22:48. > :22:51.gap. They can do virtually everything from succeed to outer

:22:51. > :22:55.space and the skills they learn in the services are immediately

:22:55. > :22:59.available to the UK workforce. There are 1 million service

:22:59. > :23:04.connected people in the UK workplace that they can communicate

:23:04. > :23:09.with and network within their search for a new job. There is help

:23:09. > :23:13.available. The Career transition partnership run by the MoD provides

:23:13. > :23:17.resettlement advice and Korea coaching at no cost. Whether you

:23:17. > :23:26.are embarking on a second Korea or planning your retirement, you can

:23:26. > :23:31.be well prepared for a life on civvy street. I got half a story on

:23:31. > :23:35.the ticker tape. The at visit for this week. Your mission next week