:00:02. > :00:12.Has Tian Tian and Yang Guang will spend 10 years there were as you
:00:12. > :00:29.
:00:29. > :00:33.This is a weekly guide to who is making the cash, how they're doing
:00:33. > :00:38.it and what it means for the way we work. With this chances are you
:00:38. > :00:41.shop all work in one of his buildings but don't even know it,
:00:41. > :00:48.the boss of British Land. Helen Pattinson got a sweet tooth for
:00:48. > :00:52.business after travelling to South America. She runs a chocolate maker.
:00:52. > :00:57.And Deborah Hargreaves spent the past year licking at pay levels in
:00:57. > :01:00.the boardroom as chair of the High Pay Commission. -- looking at. We
:01:00. > :01:03.find that what she thinks of the government announcement limiting
:01:03. > :01:09.pay rises. Some say it is a reflection on the value of the
:01:09. > :01:12.company, others the big increase in executive pay is morally wrong. Two
:01:12. > :01:16.extremes of an ongoing argument, but today the government has said
:01:16. > :01:20.it will get tough on what it calls unjustified and irresponsible pay,
:01:20. > :01:25.and this is the reward in the private sector. The idea is to come
:01:25. > :01:28.up with a set of proposals by early next year, and they are likely to
:01:28. > :01:32.include widening the membership of remuneration committees, and they
:01:32. > :01:36.are the people who set corporate pay to include workers and make
:01:36. > :01:46.shareholders more involved in the process. Let's go to Deborah
:01:46. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :01:55.Hargreaves. Chair of the High Pay Commission. They have got
:01:55. > :02:00.incredibly complicated, you can get six or seven elements, building up
:02:00. > :02:04.to a package worth millions. We have said they should be simplified,
:02:04. > :02:08.get back to basics, a base salary and one performance-related element,
:02:08. > :02:13.get away from all this reward for failure, payments which are made
:02:13. > :02:19.when companies are making big losses and not doing well, and also
:02:19. > :02:23.open up the remuneration committees to a worker representative, make
:02:23. > :02:27.that look at pay across the country -- company and take that into
:02:27. > :02:31.consideration. You mentioned performance. We also heard from the
:02:31. > :02:36.body which represents business, the CBI, saying there should be more of
:02:36. > :02:39.a link between performance and pay. But the problem is how do you
:02:39. > :02:42.decide what the performance is, because we could see a company make
:02:42. > :02:47.losses, but then the chief executive still get a massive bonus
:02:47. > :02:51.because he has met his target in some other type of performance area.
:02:51. > :02:56.The East targets are too easy to make. Mostly you see an executive
:02:56. > :03:00.will get a base salary and an annual bonus. That bonus has also
:03:00. > :03:05.become part of salary because of target payout in 95% of times last
:03:05. > :03:09.year, for example. You have got to make the targets more challenging.
:03:09. > :03:13.I personally don't think that performance related pay really
:03:13. > :03:18.works in a modern economy with a knowledge company, the sort of
:03:18. > :03:22.companies we have. I think you have got to break that link. We know
:03:22. > :03:27.shareholders are very keen on it. We think the target should be made
:03:27. > :03:30.much more challenging, he shouldn't be able to pay out to big bonuses
:03:30. > :03:34.when the company is posting a loss, or you should be able to claw it
:03:34. > :03:38.back in some way, the way that Lloyds Bank is trying to do for it
:03:38. > :03:48.for me chief-executive. We have a chief executive with this in the
:03:48. > :03:48.
:03:48. > :03:52.room, Chris from British Land, do you think the pay system is fair?
:03:52. > :03:55.It is a complicated subject, nobody will find any of this stuff that
:03:55. > :03:59.easy. From my perspective a star from a position which is to run the
:03:59. > :04:04.country, then simply a set my pay. In that sense, it is taken out of
:04:04. > :04:09.my hands and that is the right way to do it. It is a topic that will
:04:09. > :04:12.get more and more complicated in times as we're going to see. There
:04:12. > :04:18.is an argument from business you will lose the talent if you reduce
:04:18. > :04:22.the pay, because they will go to another company, is that fair? Is
:04:22. > :04:25.made the big motivator 40 executives? My experience is that
:04:25. > :04:29.different chief-executive get motivated by different things.
:04:29. > :04:35.Money is sometimes important to some people. If it important to
:04:35. > :04:39.you? It is one factor, but it is a factor. A lot of companies that
:04:39. > :04:43.operate today in the UK are international. If we really try and
:04:43. > :04:47.set up rules in place that did look sensible internationally, we will
:04:47. > :04:54.find people to migrate outside the UK. Is that a fair argument Chris
:04:54. > :04:58.makes? It is a bit of a myth companies are looking at recruiting
:04:58. > :05:01.from an international talent pool. You don't see executives moving
:05:01. > :05:05.overseas very often to go to other companies, and we don't see a huge
:05:05. > :05:09.movement of top people. Also, this is a debate going on around the
:05:09. > :05:13.world. It is not just happening in the UK. It is going on in other
:05:13. > :05:17.countries. People are getting, in terms of austerity, people are
:05:17. > :05:24.getting very upset. I will bring you into this. Obviously a very
:05:24. > :05:28.different sized business, you run a chocolate firm, it would just laugh
:05:28. > :05:33.be happy if you took, give yourself a massive pay rise when they were
:05:33. > :05:38.were not getting one? They would find it hard to take, absolutely.
:05:38. > :05:42.It is really interesting to hear the proposal is to put workers on
:05:42. > :05:48.remuneration committees. We are far from a leak of having a
:05:48. > :05:52.remuneration committee. To have workers involved in at least
:05:52. > :05:56.influencing their level of the high executives pay is a really
:05:56. > :06:00.interesting perspective. I think it helps to bring workers and
:06:00. > :06:03.employees and help them feel a bit more engaged, probably, that would
:06:04. > :06:07.certainly be the aim and that is always our aim. We only have a key
:06:07. > :06:15.staff. Even that level of business, it is hard to help everybody feel
:06:15. > :06:22.involved. He tummy naked change? We are talking about international
:06:22. > :06:27.companies -- can we make a change. You need somebody to make the first
:06:27. > :06:33.move. I think we have had some two executives admitting the system is
:06:33. > :06:36.unsustainable. You have seen business that Vince Cable had a
:06:36. > :06:40.renumeration consultation, and the business groups their reply to that
:06:40. > :06:45.were talking about simplifying paid, getting more of a conversation
:06:45. > :06:48.going with the work force, CDC these debates going on within
:06:48. > :06:54.companies and I do think it would be nice to see somebody make a
:06:54. > :07:01.stand, maybe somebody to move first. Looking over at Chris they're
:07:01. > :07:05.sitting nervously on his own. Chris over there. One of the things
:07:05. > :07:09.we see, there is huge variation. Plenty of companies where people
:07:09. > :07:15.are not being paid bits -- the crisis. The danger is the
:07:15. > :07:20.generality. It is time for a boom or bust, are quick flick through
:07:20. > :07:25.some of the stories you tried hard to miss. This is the world's
:07:25. > :07:31.longest cake at just over 1,000 metres, three and a half 1,000 feet.
:07:31. > :07:35.It was created in Shanghai by 150 chefs working around the clock for
:07:35. > :07:39.three days. If you are thinking of having a go at recreating it for
:07:39. > :07:43.your Christmas party you will need 900 eggs, one tonne of flour, 600
:07:43. > :07:49.litres of cream, and a very large oven.
:07:49. > :07:53.The French IT firm atolls says it was to become an e-mail free
:07:53. > :07:57.company to help staff cope with information overload. The company
:07:57. > :08:01.were doubts staff spend between five hours and 20 hours each week
:08:01. > :08:06.handling e-mails but his 10% of the 200 messages they receive on
:08:06. > :08:13.average each day it is useful. In case you missed it earlier today,
:08:13. > :08:17.there was pandemonium as Sweetie and Sunshine arrived in Scotland
:08:17. > :08:21.heading to their new home at Edinburgh Zoo, the first new
:08:21. > :08:25.panders to live in the new K for nearly two decades. Embassy is
:08:25. > :08:32.paying China �6 million over the next 10 years to allow them to be
:08:32. > :08:40.here. The new pandas. It is about making
:08:40. > :08:44.links with China, as well, isn't it? We keep talking about how
:08:44. > :08:48.important she -- China is for business. Do you think that is
:08:48. > :08:53.something this might help? habit does. We need all the growth
:08:53. > :08:57.we can get. I think we could appeal to Chinese tourists coming ever to
:08:57. > :09:00.see a bit of British heritage. Maybe it is good to have better
:09:00. > :09:05.links, we all need to start learning Chinese, that is for sure.
:09:05. > :09:11.I'm sure these pandas will give a huge boost to business at embassy,
:09:11. > :09:14.I for one will be going to see them. And Helen as well. Absolutely.
:09:14. > :09:19.almost sure I will be on my way to Edinburgh.
:09:19. > :09:24.This Chinese argument about growth, this idea of us trying to grow
:09:24. > :09:27.outside of the eurozone area where there is such a crisis, obviously
:09:27. > :09:31.not keep with you as being British Land, very much entered here, but
:09:31. > :09:37.how important is it for big businesses to be looking to export
:09:37. > :09:41.outside of the eurozone. For many businesses it will be a business of
:09:41. > :09:43.how they can grow quicker, that will come in emerging markets.
:09:43. > :09:48.There are whole bunch of companies which have grown quickly stop we
:09:48. > :09:51.mustn't forget the fact eurozone is a very big trading partner. What
:09:51. > :09:55.goes on there will have a big impact and there is no way of
:09:55. > :09:59.dodging that. We saw the story about the firm that wants to ban
:09:59. > :10:04.emails. What do you think of this? I have my days were nothing that
:10:04. > :10:07.would be a brilliant idea. For us it can be great, particularly we
:10:07. > :10:11.have people travelling all around UK every day of the week and it is
:10:11. > :10:15.great they can stay in contact, we can get very quick information
:10:16. > :10:21.around the organisation. You get a lot of waste? Of course we do.
:10:21. > :10:26.Trying to balance that is really tricky. There is no right answer.
:10:26. > :10:32.If we can balance it that is a good thing. You are probably very busy
:10:32. > :10:36.as well, do you ever think you could function without them?
:10:36. > :10:42.don't think I could function without my phone or my e-mails. It
:10:42. > :10:46.has become a way of life for us. It has become restrictive, and it
:10:46. > :10:52.definitely can stifle creativity in the business probably because
:10:52. > :10:59.people are so drawn to their computers, but I cannot see a way
:10:59. > :11:04.forward without it, really. sounds mad. Could you off place
:11:04. > :11:07.function? As a journalist you get so many e-mails that you find you
:11:08. > :11:12.can't miss them easily, even important ones. A lot of my
:11:12. > :11:15.colleagues who are still working on national newspapers, if you e-mail
:11:15. > :11:21.them be hardly know you have sent it, you have got to phone them up
:11:21. > :11:26.and remind them because they are inundated. It has lost its purpose.
:11:26. > :11:29.Finally, that story about the Christmas cake. It is about
:11:29. > :11:34.companies wanting to try and make a bit of extra money at this time of
:11:34. > :11:39.year, how important as Christmas for you? Very important. Certainly
:11:39. > :11:44.in our own stores, it's extremely important. The six weeks before
:11:44. > :11:48.Christmas are our huge peak closely followed by an Easter peak, but
:11:48. > :11:54.without it we wouldn't make any profit. Obviously we have to make
:11:54. > :11:57.profit to carry on trading. business like yours isn't seasonal,
:11:57. > :12:05.but other times of years when you're trying to cash in a bit
:12:05. > :12:09.more? Two-thirds above business is retail so effectively the Christmas
:12:09. > :12:16.period is incredibly important to our customers, so this year again
:12:16. > :12:19.it will be a big worry as to how Christmas trading goes. A lot of
:12:19. > :12:24.retailers have that on her mind right now. Coming into the retail
:12:24. > :12:30.side of this, we are hearing a lot from different companies, they are
:12:30. > :12:35.taking hits on a profit margins to get the sales. We are hearing more
:12:35. > :12:40.about companies such as Philip Green saying he will focus less on
:12:40. > :12:44.the High Street, and more in prime locations. Is that what you are
:12:44. > :12:50.seeing with your retail outlets as well, a lot more about these out-
:12:50. > :12:53.of-town shopping centres? We are in a good position because
:12:53. > :13:02.disproportion -- -- disproportionately our shopping
:13:02. > :13:05.centres are very high quality. We benefit. What we believe is going
:13:05. > :13:08.on across the country is polarisation. If you're in the
:13:09. > :13:12.right space and have the right products you will do well. It is
:13:12. > :13:16.tough for everybody. In terms of the retailers it is shifting to
:13:16. > :13:20.where people want to be, to shop, experience and convenience are
:13:20. > :13:24.aspects. You are going to go ahead with
:13:24. > :13:29.building a new shopping-centre, �64 million shopping-centre in South
:13:29. > :13:35.Hampshire. And you have agreed to do this because you have now got
:13:35. > :13:38.50% of your tenants who have signed up. 50% didn't sound like a lot.
:13:38. > :13:42.Because of the location, the quality we are going to create, we
:13:42. > :13:48.are confident that other 50% off the lead in the time it takes us to
:13:48. > :13:58.build it. It will be completed by 2030. That is right. Will we have
:13:58. > :13:58.
:13:58. > :14:03.the consumer confidence by then The truth is that shops are still
:14:03. > :14:08.trying to get to the best space and the right space. We think that will
:14:08. > :14:12.happen. In other areas, many town centres for example, people are
:14:12. > :14:16.really struggling and so they are moving away from those towns
:14:16. > :14:21.centres so that has problems socially and other terms. Rent is
:14:21. > :14:26.one of the biggest problems for retailers. We have days when some
:14:26. > :14:31.companies really struggled to pay their rents and they end up going
:14:31. > :14:41.bust. How flexible are you being? Are you getting customers saying
:14:41. > :14:46.they want a discount? They will all ask. We have been pretty flexible.
:14:46. > :14:50.That has helped a lot of companies in terms of cashflow. Working with
:14:50. > :14:55.companies in real difficulties, we tried to find other ways. When you
:14:55. > :15:00.say try and find other ways, will you take the money off if they are
:15:00. > :15:04.saying it is make-or-break and they do puppy dog eyes? Not many people
:15:04. > :15:10.try the puppy dog eyes with me, I cannot imagine why! It would be
:15:10. > :15:13.specific to each situation. The flipside to us is if we make a
:15:13. > :15:17.concession like that, we get other people saying I am running a good
:15:17. > :15:22.business, it has a fair you help the guys were not doing so well. It
:15:22. > :15:26.is always a balance. To you do not want empty shops because you still
:15:26. > :15:29.have to pay the business rates, we have seen some big companies like
:15:29. > :15:34.carriers who are paying just a pound for their rent in some places,
:15:34. > :15:42.just purely so the landlord has the business rates that so they do not
:15:42. > :15:46.have to pay. Is that something you are having to do? We are about 99 %
:15:46. > :15:50.and very little short-term rent so we are in a good position. Latest
:15:50. > :15:56.tough out there. I will bring Helen in on this because you have a high
:15:56. > :16:01.street element to your business as well, you have five per shops. Do
:16:01. > :16:05.you find rent difficult? Yes, rent is undoubtedly difficult. The rent
:16:05. > :16:11.quarters are always tricky from a cash flow perspective. We are
:16:11. > :16:14.fortunate that we have a few peaks with Valentine's Day and other
:16:14. > :16:19.gifting seasons whereas other retailers are very reliant on the
:16:19. > :16:23.December trade and have to rely on that cash for the rest of the year.
:16:23. > :16:28.In 2008 we did negotiate with our landlords, as many of them as we
:16:28. > :16:32.could, we took advantage of the situation and that has definitely
:16:32. > :16:39.helped with cashflow. Is your landlord helpful with that? Some of
:16:39. > :16:45.them more helpful than others. Chris was not one of them are!
:16:45. > :16:51.did have to close two shops, why was that? The foot fall was not
:16:51. > :16:54.there. They never really pulled their weight and we closed them
:16:54. > :16:58.just after Lehman Brothers went down. It was right at the beginning
:16:58. > :17:02.of the crash when we thought, we cannot afford to be dragging a
:17:02. > :17:06.couple of shops which are not pulling their weight. You heard
:17:06. > :17:10.Chris saying how it is about prime location more now and the out-of-
:17:10. > :17:14.town shopping centres, for a company like yours it would be very
:17:14. > :17:18.expensive to get into one of those. Do you worry that you are getting
:17:18. > :17:23.towards that and you'll end up with your shops without as many people
:17:23. > :17:27.and more and two shops around you? We do not worry particularly now.
:17:27. > :17:31.am not trying to scare you! five shops we have our own
:17:31. > :17:35.excellent positions and in Nice pedestrian High Streets mostly.
:17:35. > :17:39.Chichester and Winchester, for example, they do not have shopping
:17:39. > :17:43.centres particularly. The High Street, open-air shopping
:17:43. > :17:48.environment, is something which people go for. That is why they go
:17:48. > :17:52.there. And that suits us as an independent sort of artisan
:17:52. > :17:57.retailer. It suits the style of business that we are. A shopping
:17:57. > :18:02.centre for us is perhaps a little too clinical. We do not have 100
:18:02. > :18:07.stores. If no one wants to go to the high street because three shops
:18:07. > :18:11.around you are empty. Fortunately, the towns that we are in are pretty
:18:11. > :18:15.well let. There are very few empty shops which is surprising at the
:18:16. > :18:19.moment. We will come onto the eurozone crisis now because it is
:18:19. > :18:25.crunch time for the eurozone, a phrase we have heard a lot over the
:18:25. > :18:30.last few weeks. This time we are being told it is different. A
:18:30. > :18:33.series of meetings over the next few days may make a difference over
:18:33. > :18:37.the survival of the euro and it could have big consequences for
:18:38. > :18:42.Britain and the rest of the eurozone as well. Chris, you have
:18:42. > :18:46.warned in the past of the consequences of a eurozone fall-out.
:18:46. > :18:50.What you think is the biggest thing we have to worry about? It is such
:18:50. > :18:54.a big trading partner for Rosso any bad event in Europe will be felt
:18:54. > :18:58.for us here. We are already starting to see that in terms of
:18:59. > :19:03.economic activity being slower in the UK. It makes so much sense to
:19:03. > :19:07.sort this problem out from the Europeans' perspective as well as
:19:07. > :19:12.ours. You have to be optimistic that it will happen. It is a long
:19:12. > :19:18.and slow and scarily different -- difficult process. What would it
:19:18. > :19:22.mean if things got worse there and more companies went into recession?
:19:22. > :19:25.We are a UK business and at the end of the day, our business will do
:19:25. > :19:29.better if the economy does well and it will do worse if the economy
:19:29. > :19:33.does badly. We have the same interests and concerns of everybody
:19:33. > :19:37.else about it not getting sorted out and not sorted out as quickly
:19:37. > :19:41.as possible. Deborah, we are talking a lot about trying to cut
:19:41. > :19:48.down our debt but equally, we want to have growth as well. Do you
:19:48. > :19:52.think it is possible to have the two, cut down debt and grow? What
:19:52. > :19:57.worries me is where is the growth going to come from? We need to
:19:57. > :20:01.promote growth. We need to get people back into work. We need to
:20:01. > :20:06.do something to stimulate growth and I cannot see that happening. I
:20:06. > :20:10.think maybe you have to hold off paying down the debt and try and
:20:10. > :20:14.stimulate growth and grow out of the crisis. That may not be
:20:14. > :20:18.possible. I think we may need some more creative thinking and some
:20:18. > :20:24.debt write-down, some debt amnesty that has happened in the past and
:20:24. > :20:27.maybe we need to go there again. Does it worry you because you do
:20:27. > :20:32.not have a business in Europe but equally, there is always that
:20:32. > :20:38.indirect effect that Chris was talking about. It has hit consumer
:20:38. > :20:42.confidence here in a way? Yes, of course, it has to worry us. We are
:20:42. > :20:46.a consumer good. People buy us because they see us on the Waitrose
:20:46. > :20:51.shelf and they put it in their trolley. Anything that affects the
:20:51. > :20:56.eurozone will affect our business. Any further squeezes on consumer
:20:56. > :20:59.spending are bound to affect us. What do we need to kick-start it? I
:20:59. > :21:06.know that is the million dollar question, the million Euros
:21:06. > :21:10.question, I should say! Briefly, if you were given the power to be
:21:11. > :21:15.labelled solve this, how would you solve it? I would solve it with
:21:15. > :21:19.closer fiscal union in core Europe and I think there is little other
:21:19. > :21:23.way to do that. I think that is what will end up happening because
:21:23. > :21:27.that is the only way that you can run a European economy with one
:21:27. > :21:32.currency. Thank you for your thoughts.
:21:32. > :21:36.December is here. For some, it is the best time to make money out of
:21:36. > :21:46.whatever spending you do but how do you make a once a year business
:21:46. > :21:55.
:21:55. > :22:00.This is what a quarter of a million Christmas plants look like. Or
:22:00. > :22:05.poinsettias to give them their proper name. This lot are being
:22:05. > :22:15.plucked, preened and potted before being boxed up to hit shelves on
:22:15. > :22:15.
:22:15. > :22:19.Monday morning. I am in East Sussex at a nursery in eight acres of
:22:19. > :22:26.poinsettias. Dave Lloyd is the nursery manager. It is an
:22:26. > :22:30.incredibly intensive way to run a nursery. It is an intensive product.
:22:30. > :22:34.What we are trying to do is maximise the usage of our space so
:22:34. > :22:38.the maximum number of plants per square metre, to maximise the
:22:38. > :22:42.number of plants we get in our class structures. Demand for the
:22:42. > :22:50.product is very seasonal so what are you doing for the rest of the
:22:50. > :22:58.year? It is a very seasonal product. This lot will be out of the door
:22:58. > :23:03.shortly. The rest of the year we grow up our main products which are
:23:03. > :23:08.flowers for DIY stores. Getting the seasonal forecasting right is vital.
:23:08. > :23:17.From what needs to be ordered Wem, to the number of extra temporary
:23:17. > :23:21.staff to be taken on. Royal Mail has hired an extra
:23:21. > :23:26.18,000 staff in anticipation of this year's Christmas mail bag.
:23:26. > :23:32.There have also opened a dedicated packet network to cope with the
:23:32. > :23:39.sheer volume of presence now bought online. The mad - to stock up for
:23:39. > :23:43.Christmas means supermarkets also need extra hands. In fact, the
:23:43. > :23:48.ranks of one in three employers will swell over the period. Great
:23:48. > :23:52.news for jobseeker's but an enormous extra cost for businesses.
:23:52. > :23:57.The margin for error when it comes to plants is quite small. How can
:23:57. > :24:02.you make sure you have got the right plant to market at the right
:24:02. > :24:06.time? We have historical data from year to year and we also have
:24:06. > :24:10.product launches and we get forecasts from our customers so we
:24:10. > :24:14.have a clear idea of the customer demand and what we will have for
:24:14. > :24:19.future seasons. That allows us to accurately predict what we will
:24:19. > :24:23.grow and minimise our wastage. Rising costs for businesses means
:24:23. > :24:31.it is more important than ever to turn quiet months into profitable
:24:31. > :24:36.ones. This crop is a cash crop. It is not a product we would grow all
:24:36. > :24:40.a look round. It is seasonal. It is utilising the space when we would