Episode 43 Show Me the Money

burglary. Now BBC News, time for This is Show Me The Money, your

guide to who is making cash, how and what it means for the way we

work. With us to night, Jim McCarthy is the man in charge of

Poundland. Taking a bite out of the millions that men spend on shaving

and grooming, the entrepreneur Simon Duffy, founder of Bulldog,

and seeing past a slick faced that business puts forward, Sarah Bridge

from the Mail on Sunday. Another weekend, another crisis for Greece

and its massive debts. Greece is desperately trying to find more

things to cut. The Prime Minister has cancelled a trip to America to

chair a meeting of his ministers. Priest got over 100 billion euros

from its neighbours but they will only release the money in return

for Greece cutting its spending. Greece needs the next instalment of

eight billion euro by mid-October, or it will run out of cash. But

when the neighbours finance ministers met on Friday they

delayed signing the cheque because they want more cuts. Sarah Bridge,

we start our discussion with you on this. Greece has already cut

spending. It has raised taxes. Other European nations are saying

we want more. Is there a political will, the political appetite

increase, to deliver even more savings? I think there is now

definitely the cancellation of the trip to Washington means the

government is getting down to business. From tomorrow they are

going to start cutting jobs. They have public sector cuts, pension

cuts, they have taxes on energy. There is no option, Greece will run

out of money in mid-October unless they get this loan through. This is

not an idle threat, sabre-rattling. If this money, this is still the

first bale-out. There is another to be agreed, the final details, but

they need that too. That is a real possibility that Greece could

default and that has a huge knock- on effect for the eurozone banks

and the rest of Europe. The problem for the banks, if Greece can't pay

her debts back on schedule, and on the people who don't get their

money on time are those banks in Germany and France. Definitely, we

have seen French banks having to be downgraded because of their

exposure to the great debt and it is not just in the eurozone. We

have British banks who are exposed through debt to part of the bail-

out. If we'd -- if Greece defaults and can't pay money back, people

are in trouble. If we can broaden this out to what it means that

businesses doing trading with Greece, trading with Europe, you

are trying to expand in Greece. -- in Europe. You have operations in

northern Europe already. What does this mean to you? Like every small

business we are looking to grow in Europe. Anything that creates a

financial volatility uncertainty in Europe is bad for us. We are about

to launch in Germany and 3,000 supermarkets. We're really excited

about that. We think there are lots more growth opportunities for

Bulldog but anything that destabilise his or takes away

confidence, it is not good for small British business. That is the

keyword, confident. That is right. When times are cuff -- tough,

people are less likely to spend money, corporations will not take a

risk on a company from overseas. What we are hoping for is stability

and confidence throughout Europe and how they handle the Greek

financial crisis is a key part over the next six months. You are

expanding in Europe as well. Your business is called Poundland. In

this country. When you grew in Ireland you decided not to call it

euro land but to call it something else as well. What does that tell

you about what people think about the euro and the project and the

problems that surround it? Well, we clearly couldn't enter the country

with the euro at Calle ASOS Poundland. So what we did -- and

call ourselves Poundland. So what we did was talk to consumers and we

also talked to consumers in Europe because one day we hope to go there

as well. What came out was real emotion about the effects and the

impact that the average person felt that the euro had had on their

lives and they were very clear that they didn't want us to call the new

chain euro anything, so we asked them to suggest names and we put

names in ourselves and the name Deal came out, which will transfer

from Ireland to Europe as well and that came out as a clear winner.

Your research told you the euro name was in consumers' minds

tarnished. Absolutely. Jim McCarthy, thank you very much. Time now for

Boom or Bust, the quick one-two. What do you think this is? It is

not the last week tour of Britain cycle race. It is 128 people are

provided all the power foreign musical concert in Italy. It was

billed as the country's first entirely eco-friendly event. The

band, called Wooden Heads, had the idea because they are keen on all

things green and perhaps also people in tight-fitting shorts! A

pair of rugby fans were left in a rut when they arrived in New

Zealand for the World Cup. They thought they had booked a hotel in

Eastbourne, Wellington. The booking was a hotel -- was in the town of

Eastbourne on the south coast of England! The man who made the

booking says he thought it was strange when the hotel wanted

payment in pounds rather than in New Zealand dollars. They say

married life is full of ups and downs. A couple in America started

as they meant to go on. They got married on a roller-coaster. That

is one way of keeping the guest list down. You could say it was on

the buffet afterwards as well. We start with Simon and the cycling

concert. This shows that there is no barrier to the greening of

business, where you live. I don't think there is. There has never

been a better time for green businesses to seek to do innovative

things. We see lots of gross and brilliant small businesses using

the opportunity that this great -- this hunger for green technology

creates. A how green is your business? Do your customers expect

you to be sustainable, to account for all the products that you used

to make your materials? Yes, absolutely. It is getting more

important. The ethical company died just announced that Bulldog was the

most ethical company in skincare, male or female skin care, and we

have done that when we have got through tremendous growth. It has

been a difficult time. There has never been a better time for a

green business that is transparent to grow in the UK. Jim McCarthy,

your business has done well in tough times. When people are

watching every penny that they spend do they really care about the

whole green agenda? A think the true answer to that is if you put

an organic product best to a stag - - next to a standard product and

have the same price, the consumer will choose organic. They would

like to be agreed. Unfortunately large numbers cannot afford to at

the moment. That limits their choice. It would be lovely but hard

economics do give them their choice. Sarah, the rugby fans who booked in

Eastbourne but entirely the wrong Eastbourne, it is a lesson that you

need to be careful when you buy online. I think so. It is easy to

be seduced into the slickness, you click your mouse and you have

bought something but you must check the small print. It is difficult

when you are buying on live. A friend of mine bought some online

groceries and ordered lots of bananas and was given a

substitution of bananas and pyjamas CD, which was a children's TV

programme. Obviously it is bananas and the computer says... Anyone who

has programmed a sat nav wrong knows that you are the mercy of

technology. Being sure what you get in business, but also must apply

when you are dealing with your suppliers? Yes, it is incredibly

important that you are providing a quality product and a safe product

so every business has to work hard to make sure they understand how

their products are made and that they are safe and effective. What

is the worst mistake you have made ordering something online? That is

a good one. Brian Moore was on Amazon looking for things for gifts

and I have often got the wrong thing -- I am constantly on Amazon.

You are holding back. Most embarrassing for you? I tend to buy

in bulk when I am ordering online so you can get a lot of stuff at

Triton at leisure in your home then send it back, which is great for me

but perhaps not for the retailer. Do you have online business?

yet. Is is something you are tempted to do? Definitely, we have

to offer consumers choices. We will do but not yet. When you order

bananas they get fruit rather than a CD. The last story on our list,

the married life, the couple who got married on the roller-coaster.

A great gimmick, it got them attention. Gimmicks are an

important part of grabbing customers' attention, were the

Warwick Business? Absolutely. All businesses are competing strongly

at the moment for decreasing consumer spend, so gimmicks,

whether they come in the form of loyalty cards or reward cards,

coupons, buy one get one free, if that captures the imagination of

your consumer and brings them into your shop and you satisfy them,

that has to be good for business. There is a lot of competition on

these innovations and the ones who get it right are most successful.

The you have to have delivery with it. You have to deliver. Simon,

when you are having meetings with all powerful buyers at the

supermarket chains, trying to persuade them to take your products

and put them on their shelves, you have to offer gimmicks as part of

the deal? I don't mean for them personally but as part of what

customers will be offered? I think you have to show you are going to

be able to sell the products over the course of a trading cycle but

the most important thing is you have something that is unique, no

one else is doing it in the market so that will excite their customers

and you can explain it well to the buyers that you speak with.

need to approach the right person. It is really important. These are

huge corporations. If you can get to the right person you stand a

better chance as a small business of getting your idea heard which is

so important. Let's talk more about your business, Jim. Something about

you first of all. And in use today, Nick Clegg telling the Liberal-

Democrats in Birmingham that getting rid of that 50 p rate of

tax for high earners is not going to beat the Government's immediate

tax priority. You are one of the people who have worked hard enough,

or fortunate enough, to pay back 50 p rate. Would you rather you

weren't paying 50 p in the pound? Yes, absolutely! You have to be

crazy to say you want to pay higher taxes. The honest answer is I don't

want to pay 50p. Stuart Rose asked this question a couple of weeks ago.

He said given the circumstances we are in, he was quite happy paying

it. Stuart Rose is entitled to his opinion. I am not happy paying it

but I understand why that has been introduced, but I don't necessarily

agree but I do understand. You are not one of these people saying if

it is not but I am leaving, I am off? No, I love this country. I

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

you do that? Are you selling stuff that is going to go off? What is

the trick? We serve 3.7 million customers each week. They know what

value looks like and they are careful how they spend. We have 21

years of experience. We have a skilled trading team. Our growth in

store numbers, we have been growing strongly, gives us higher volumes

and suppliers have to invest in retailers that are showing them

growth and that enables us to keep the costs down. We have a low-cost

model. We sometimes will take at low margins than other retailers

will, because of the high volumes we sell. Put all those things

together and the careful cost control right through the business,

that is how we are able to continue There is more to it than cost

control. You can go to the manufacturers' and they can develop

a new product so that it costs �1 in the shops. Yes, we have sunk

real growth in primary manufacturers and suppliers deal

directly with us, people like Procter and Gamble, who have

developed specifically for us very high-value products we can sell for

a pound. There is increasing recognition from suppliers that the

discount channel is becoming more and more important for consumers

right across the spectrum. They know your stuff is saved. Does this

mean fewer Maltesers in the box? How does that conversation go?

is a great observation because it actually happened with Maltesers.

Manufacturers also recognise that to keep the costs down they

sometimes reduce the contents. But the Maltesers are still more

enjoyable. A bit more air. What happens if there is a rise in

commodity prices and it goes above �1 and you cannot get it below �1.

What do you do then? The it is a tough decision because some of

these decisions affect very high- volume products. Coffee would be an

example and sugar would be an example. We know that food

inflation is running very high and cost inflation is running high. We

have to take tough decisions sometimes and we would not have a

product that we can now offer -- offered to our customers. It is

tough decisions, but there is a change sometimes in the range

necessitated by cost inflation. have worked at senior level across

the retail industry. You work that Sainsbury's at one point and I hear

they were upset when you left because they saw you as a rising

talent. Why did you leave? I loved Sainsbury's and enjoyed working

there, but I had personal issues with deaths and illnesses in the

family and I needed to spend more time with my family in the Midlands.

The pound lands job was available. It is more luck than anything and

for the right reasons that is why I am there. Do you see yourself

running Sainsbury's? I think I am too old for that. I think Justin

has made a great go of it. If your boss had to reveal the gap between

their pay and your pay, would it shamed yobbos into taking a smaller

pay packet? That is what Vince Cable is hoping. It is one of the

things he is said to be considering for every boardroom in the country

and he will tell us tomorrow what he is going to force companies to

do. Sorry to start with you again on this one, but we heard during

the week that Mark Bolland who runs Marks & Spencer gets a Petr Cech

that is 600 times larger than the Petr Cech pour his lowest-paid

employee. What is the gap between you and your lowest-paid workers?

think it is somewhere between 30 and 35 times. A much smaller gap

and some other larger companies. Yes, but Mark has got a huge job to

do. If that information were made public and you were forced by

legislation to publish that in some sort of form, would that make you

reconsider the size of your pay packet? Well, my salary is in a

report that comes out each year, so that his public information. What

is not shown is the contrast between the lowest paid and myself.

Would it change the behaviour of companies? I think probably not. I

think it is for the shareholders to decide if directors are paid too

much and if they are not doing a good job. Then they should put them

out. This is the flaw in this plan. It is using the code of public

opinion to name and shame buses. But if you are taking a pay packet

of that size already, you do not care who knows about it. I think

you are probably right. Quite a lot of these companies already give out

information anywhere. If you had to reveal it, companies could get

around it by comparing the basic rate of pay and forgetting about

incentives or burners performances or share options. I think,

unfortunately, there is no particular link between company

performance and executive pay. Maybe it would be good if there

were less of the executive salaries that was so active cutter, but I do

not think this would change a lot to be honest. Why is he raising

this as an issue over and over again? I think there is a public

opinion that is against excessive pay, especially if a company is

forced to make people redundant or they are making a loss. You saw

that with banking bonuses and chief executive pay in the banking crisis.

Quite a lot of the bosses were not the top earners in their company.

Some of them were the traders are making all the risky decisions. It

is very much a reward in short-term performances. The whole argument

about pay in companies like you is that are just starting out or are

just a couple of years into their existence, it is different because

the owner of the company gets paid nothing. I went without a salary

for a year-and-a-half and now the difference between the top earner

and the bottom burner is minute. I think that is really important when

you are starting out. Everybody has to turn their hands to a lot of

tasks and there is the team ethos at the beginning of a company.

know at some point you will earn up -- end up earning a lot more.

point seems to go further and further away. We are working really

hard to make ends meet and to continue to grow. Everything we

make goes straight back into the business to expand the brand or

expand overseas. I do not see a point where these kinds of

conversations are relevant to us. More people are out of work. The

latest unemployment figures out this week showed over 2.5 million

people who could be in work do not have a job. The dole queues will be

swollen by the armed forces between now and 2015. They have a lot of

skills, but can they work on civvy street?

While Britain's troops are engaged in military operations overseas

they now face budget and job cuts on the home front. For those

leaving the services it means entering unknown territory,

civilian life. Service personnel can find the transition tough going.

Many people suffer from grief. Once Aggers and closes, they grieving

for their friends and people they left behind. The second thing they

encounter is a strange environment they are not used to. Freedom is

one of those things, it causes apprehension. If they are not

successful in getting a job quickly, there self Eksteen diminishes. If

that happens, the quickest way of compensating his alcohol and that

is the well-documented away and we have to stop that happening. To des

forces face the biggest reorganisation in living memory.

22,000 servicemen and women will be out of a job by 2015, the year in

which we are due to pull out of Afghanistan. What is it like

leaving the military? Simon, you joined the Army Act 19? Yes, I had

14 years of service and left at the age of 32. It is a long time. How

did you find the new environment when you're applying for jobs?

hardest thing is trying to work out what you want to do. I was a pilot

and I knew I did not want to be a pilot outside. I had to work out

what I wanted to do. I had never done interviewing, I had never

written a CV. That was quite tough even though I had decided what I

wanted to do. What did you find the hardest thing? It was what I wanted

to do. I went round seeing all sorts of different companies. I saw

a big advertising agency who said they would love to offer me a job,

but that would be if you were 10 years younger. I felt very much on

the shelf. All leavers receive a settlement and careers advice from

the MoD for up to two years, but ex-servicemen like Simon say

potential employers often do not know how to handle those who lack

commercial experience. Some agencies are trying to bridge that

gap. They can do virtually everything from succeed to outer

space and the skills they learn in the services are immediately

available to the UK workforce. There are 1 million service

connected people in the UK workplace that they can communicate

with and network within their search for a new job. There is help

available. The Career transition partnership run by the MoD provides

resettlement advice and Korea coaching at no cost. Whether you

are embarking on a second Korea or planning your retirement, you can

be well prepared for a life on civvy street. I got half a story on

the ticker tape. The at visit for this week. Your mission next week