:00:08. > :00:18.south of the country. Now it's time for Show Me The Money
:00:18. > :00:28.
:00:28. > :00:32.This is Show Me The Money, your weekly guide to who's making the
:00:32. > :00:35.cash, how they're doing it, and what it means for the way we work.
:00:35. > :00:38.With us tonight: The man who wishes it could be Christmas every day -
:00:38. > :00:42.Andy Street is the boss of John Lewis. Financial journalist, Lucy
:00:42. > :00:46.Tobin, wants Santa to bring her an all-in-one toast and egg maker - it
:00:46. > :00:51.helps her get up early for her job at the London Evening Standard. And
:00:52. > :00:59.Kevin Wood's entertainment company puts on panto across the country.
:00:59. > :01:02.Oh yes he does! Christmas shopping - have you done
:01:02. > :01:05.yours yet? The shopkeepers are hoping they can squeeze more cash
:01:05. > :01:08.out of you this week. Some shops say they are enjoying record sales,
:01:08. > :01:12.but the Shopkeepers' Trade Body has told the BBC tonight that there are
:01:12. > :01:22.fewer shoppers this year than last year, when we were all snowed in by
:01:22. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:30.the cold snap. How is Christmas the you? So far,
:01:30. > :01:35.it has been very good. Better than we expected. Given how challenging
:01:35. > :01:44.it is for many families, I am surprised. We finished with their
:01:44. > :01:52.record week last week, 10% up from last year. Record week? You mean
:01:52. > :02:02.more money than you have ever been in business? That is right. How you
:02:02. > :02:04.
:02:04. > :02:08.able to do that? Firstly, we have a good online business. It is very
:02:08. > :02:16.clear that people want to shop online, we are trying to make it
:02:16. > :02:20.easy to shop online. The winning companies seem to be doing that.
:02:20. > :02:25.Secondly, in these tough times, people have less money to spend, so
:02:25. > :02:30.they are thinking carefully about where to spend it. Our commitment
:02:30. > :02:35.about price, quality and service is cutting through. We have been
:02:35. > :02:41.talking about the switch from High Street online three years. Is it
:02:41. > :02:48.happening to a greater extent? Online is becoming as important as
:02:48. > :02:53.the high street? It is not as important. For ours, four-fifths of
:02:53. > :02:59.transactions will be in shops, and one fifth online. For the country
:02:59. > :03:05.as a whole, it is 18 as a whole. Growth online is very substantial.
:03:05. > :03:12.For -- it is one eighth. The winning companies will have the two
:03:12. > :03:16.channels working hand-in-glove. British Retail Consortium telling
:03:16. > :03:23.us that there are 5% fewer shoppers on the High Street when we were
:03:23. > :03:30.snowed in. For them, it is a tough Christmas? Certainly, we will see
:03:30. > :03:35.very few bright. This Christmas. We have all got less money. Energy
:03:35. > :03:42.bills are higher, clothing and food costs more, next here is not
:03:42. > :03:52.certain in terms of job prospects. When you are facing the prospect? -
:03:52. > :03:53.
:03:53. > :04:00.-, what are you going to do? It is little surprise that retailers are
:04:00. > :04:05.bearing the brunt. But isn't this the plan? If we do keep the budget,
:04:05. > :04:14.we have less cash, and the retailers take a head. It exactly.
:04:14. > :04:24.Retell has been enjoying a boom. -- Retail. We have got more shops
:04:24. > :04:34.opening, and we are looking at more capacity. To -- do you have a
:04:34. > :04:35.
:04:35. > :04:42.different perspective? Yes. What we are selling customers, tickets to
:04:42. > :04:46.see pantomimes, is, well, we cannot pretend it is essential, but to --
:04:46. > :04:53.but at least it is part of Christmas and tradition. Are they
:04:53. > :04:58.spending? Oh yes. Our target was to have levelled figures, and we are
:04:58. > :05:01.achieving that. But we have had to work harder.
:05:02. > :05:07.Time for Boom Or Bust, our quick flick though the news you hoped you
:05:07. > :05:10.had missed this week. This brings a whole new meaning to
:05:10. > :05:12."packing your trunk". A holiday camp for elephants has been set up
:05:12. > :05:15.in southern India to help them cope with work-related stress. The
:05:15. > :05:19.animals are attached to shrines and temples where they have a heavy
:05:19. > :05:22.workload taking part in processions. To stop them saying goodbye to the
:05:22. > :05:31.circus, they are given seven weeks of extra food, sensual massages,
:05:31. > :05:35.and baths in special oils. People in Norway have run out of
:05:35. > :05:38.something essential this Christmas - butter. It's being blamed in part
:05:38. > :05:42.on the wet summer. That means less milk was produced. It's so bad,
:05:42. > :05:50.Norway even had to relax its strict limits on imports so enough butter
:05:50. > :05:54.could be bought in from abroad. Feeling flush? How about this loo
:05:54. > :06:00.covered in those little crystal things? If you want to splash out,
:06:00. > :06:10.it will cost you �100,000! And you'll have to go to Japan to buy
:06:10. > :06:16.
:06:16. > :06:26.it as well. Let us start with the stress doubt
:06:26. > :06:29.
:06:29. > :06:34.elephants. -- stressed out. Do we take stress seriously enough? The
:06:34. > :06:39.boss of Lloyd's had to take his sick leave because of stress. Did
:06:40. > :06:49.that change the way we look at stress in the workplace? I think it
:06:49. > :06:56.has. The date Lloyds announced that, it was International Stress Dave. -
:06:56. > :07:01.- stressed day. The City is taking it more seriously. The fact is,
:07:01. > :07:07.there are few of us in the office, more people are being cut back, and
:07:07. > :07:12.people in the office are working more. I think it will become a more
:07:13. > :07:17.pressing issue. I saw something in the Times saying it is a wonder
:07:17. > :07:27.more chief executives do not crack up. But there was not a lot of
:07:27. > :07:28.
:07:28. > :07:33.sympathy for him, was there? In the industry, I think there was. How do
:07:33. > :07:38.you deal with stress in your line of work? I get on with it. You just
:07:39. > :07:44.have to do it. My line of work is a little bit strange, isn't it? We
:07:44. > :07:49.spend all year preparing for a six- week period. The people who survive
:07:50. > :07:59.in pantomime are people who can set levels, who know what level to work
:08:00. > :08:03.
:08:03. > :08:10.out, in which month. Do you think stress is it necessary? Some people
:08:10. > :08:14.are actually at their best when they have some of it. The bar to
:08:14. > :08:24.that Norway is running out of, the business listened to draw from
:08:24. > :08:24.
:08:24. > :08:34.that? -- the butter. One year, I was producing three productions of
:08:34. > :08:35.
:08:35. > :08:41.Snow White, and I only had to 18 dwarfs! How many did you need?
:08:41. > :08:46.So, in the end, we found an agency in Romania that flew in three. Of
:08:46. > :08:53.course, they did not speak English! We have to somehow get round, and
:08:53. > :08:59.we did. We send them back in the end afterwards. How long were you
:08:59. > :09:05.sweating? A short time. There are many dwarfs in it eastern Europe.
:09:06. > :09:13.There are few would walks in this country because of pre-natal care.
:09:13. > :09:20.-- few word dwarfs. The crystal toilet. I can reassure you that
:09:20. > :09:26.John Lewis will not start selling crystal toilets. Any range has to
:09:26. > :09:31.have a premium at the top. But it acts like a ladder - you always
:09:31. > :09:38.want to aspire to the top. So it is important that these luxury items
:09:38. > :09:45.are there? Absolutely. You are getting married next year. Is it on
:09:45. > :09:55.your wedding list? Know, but having perused the John Lewis store, they
:09:55. > :09:59.
:09:59. > :10:09.do have a �89 toilet brush. -- no. We declined, however. You are not
:10:09. > :10:14.
:10:14. > :10:18.doing your bit for the British High Street! Let us talk about the
:10:18. > :10:24.advert. What was the thought process that led to that? Be in
:10:24. > :10:29.these tough times, we wanted to have a thought about Christmas that
:10:29. > :10:33.most people in the UK could relate to. It was relevant to them, it was
:10:33. > :10:43.not something about the litter and obscurity. It was about their own
:10:43. > :10:44.
:10:44. > :10:47.lives, and anyone will understand that. -- about the litter. You were
:10:47. > :10:57.trying to tug every emotional heart string in the country, were due?
:10:57. > :10:59.
:10:59. > :11:07.Let us be honest, every adverb is about selling products. -- every
:11:07. > :11:15.advert is about selling products. We spent �6 million on advertising
:11:15. > :11:22.every year. What rise in sales do you need to cover the cost of that?
:11:22. > :11:28.If we think we will take sales this year of �3.5 billion, �6 million is
:11:28. > :11:38.well in proportions. It is not on the high side, if you compare to
:11:38. > :11:42.
:11:42. > :11:46.other retailers. Talking about famous slogans and captions, never
:11:46. > :11:53.knowingly undersold, that has been the motto for John Lewis. What does
:11:53. > :11:58.it mean in the modern world? Does that mean everything is cheaper?
:11:58. > :12:03.means it is more relevant now than it has ever been. Customers'
:12:03. > :12:07.budgets are stretched, and the motto is saying we will offer you
:12:07. > :12:12.the best price on the High Street, you do not have to go round and
:12:12. > :12:18.check it up, you can trust and we will have that best price. Hence
:12:18. > :12:26.why we appear to be having a good performance this Christmas. What
:12:26. > :12:30.about online? 12 months ago, we moved to extend that commitment to
:12:30. > :12:38.websites of high street retailers as well as at -- as well as high
:12:38. > :12:44.street shops. Why not just all high street? It is all High Street.
:12:44. > :12:49.it is any website of any high street retailer. Our customers
:12:50. > :12:56.understand but that is a different proposition. They do not have the
:12:56. > :13:03.service infrastructure that goes with a traditional set up. Cannot
:13:03. > :13:08.be sustained in the long term? You are facing competitors like Tesco's
:13:08. > :13:18.and the big supermarkets, Dixons. They are all very competitive on
:13:18. > :13:23.
:13:23. > :13:28.We have met those prices head-on and we do not intend to change.
:13:28. > :13:35.Let's talk more about panto with Kevin Wood, the chief executive of
:13:35. > :13:41.First Family Entertainment. This year, the man who bought -- brought
:13:41. > :13:47.David Hasselhoff and Dame Edna Beveridge to the panto stage. How
:13:47. > :13:53.do you explain to David Hasselhoff what panto is? I have been falling
:13:54. > :14:03.his agent for seven years trying to get through, and finally a chick in
:14:04. > :14:09.
:14:09. > :14:13.their arm work appeared. -- a chink in the Armagh appeared. -- armour.
:14:13. > :14:19.I talked to his agent and said I wanted to speak to him face to face,
:14:19. > :14:23.so I jumped on a plane. In my pocket was a three minute DVD on
:14:23. > :14:30.the history of pantomime, because they thought pantomime was like
:14:30. > :14:34.Marcel Marceau would you do not speak. -- where you do not speak. I
:14:34. > :14:39.showed them the DVDs, and said, a new attempts it is a cross between
:14:39. > :14:44.Disney and vaudeville. So they had that reference point. Then I told
:14:44. > :14:50.them how much money they would earn. The wit came to cash in the end?
:14:50. > :14:54.Yes, and they agreed. It was one of those wonderful meetings, I had a
:14:54. > :14:59.contract in my pocket and they signed it there and then. You won't
:14:59. > :15:04.tell me how much he is being paid, of course, but how do you cover the
:15:04. > :15:09.costs of a big star like that, whose fee may be greater than the
:15:09. > :15:13.entire rest of the cast? That is often the case. The Big Star often
:15:13. > :15:18.earns more than the sum of every body of the other 40 people
:15:18. > :15:22.employed in the show. How do you cover it and justify it?
:15:22. > :15:29.justify it by the fact the star sells the tickets. The star pays
:15:29. > :15:32.the wages. -- star pays the wages. If someone came steamy -- comes to
:15:32. > :15:38.me and complains about someone earning more, I say, they are
:15:38. > :15:45.paying your wages. I once did an experiment. It was the first time I
:15:45. > :15:51.ever employed someone with a high fee, and I will tell you who it was,
:15:51. > :15:55.she deserved every penny, it was Cilla Black. I took her to
:15:56. > :16:05.Blackpool for an awful lot of money. I was standing in the auditorium
:16:06. > :16:19.
:16:19. > :16:25.and I said, the money paid to cellar -- Cilla is up to row K. The
:16:25. > :16:34.we have all the rest of the theatre for our show.
:16:34. > :16:39.Banks have been ordered to ring- fence their investment sections
:16:39. > :16:42.from their retail banking systems. They have been giving you has to do
:16:42. > :16:47.this. They claim it will make banking more expensive. Do you buy
:16:47. > :16:51.this? Do you feel it is an imposition, an additional cost too
:16:51. > :16:58.much to bear and we consumers will end up paying it?
:16:58. > :17:02.I think that is an argument we would expect, any industry seeing a
:17:02. > :17:08.change may well complain to the maximum. Will be paid for it in the
:17:08. > :17:13.long term? -- will we pay for it. We will have to wait and see, it
:17:14. > :17:18.could be the end of free banking and current accounts.
:17:18. > :17:21.This year has not been very good for banks, but in the past few
:17:21. > :17:27.years we have seen profits that the tax payers, who have bailed out the
:17:27. > :17:34.banks to that tune of billions over the past four years, are saying,
:17:34. > :17:37.sort this out, look at this idea of ring-fencing the investment banks
:17:37. > :17:42.and the retail banks and thinking that should be good for consumers
:17:42. > :17:48.who now know what they get when they signed up to loans or savings.
:17:48. > :17:51.We know that the banks hired a very expensive lobbyists to get the
:17:52. > :17:56.Government to water down the proposals in the independent review
:17:56. > :18:02.of banking. Was that lobbying successful? Did the Government
:18:02. > :18:08.bent? The one major concession they want, and it is a major one, the
:18:08. > :18:14.sense of liability will have to come from the UK operations only,
:18:14. > :18:19.and for a huge international back like HSBC, that is big.
:18:19. > :18:23.Is it time to rein the bankers in? We have to be careful how we
:18:23. > :18:28.generalise and simplified. The Chancellor used the word this
:18:28. > :18:33.morning Casino, Lucy mentioned gambling banks, and I don't think
:18:33. > :18:35.that is quite right. There is a core of our economy that is about
:18:36. > :18:41.retail banking, provided the bedrock of lending to small
:18:41. > :18:45.businesses. They are part of the solution, not the problem.
:18:45. > :18:50.Investment banking, too, has a role in Britain's success. They make
:18:50. > :18:55.some of the processes in the City worked. We have to be wary of
:18:55. > :18:59.seeing them as easy targets. They certainly have a place to play,
:18:59. > :19:04.but when you see the excesses and of these single people with these
:19:04. > :19:08.tens of bn-Pounds on bonuses, something needs to rein that in.
:19:08. > :19:12.Both of you can now retire to your respective corners. Thank you very
:19:12. > :19:16.much for being with us tonight. It has been a rough year for many
:19:16. > :19:22.businesses, but not everyone has been put off setting up on their
:19:22. > :19:25.own. Our correspondent visited one person who took the plunge.
:19:25. > :19:32.James has been running his business from his kitchen table since the
:19:32. > :19:35.spring of this year. His farm need these patented wall planters.
:19:35. > :19:41.They're designed for people with limited outdoor space who want to
:19:41. > :19:47.add some greenery to their homes. Like many new small companies, he
:19:47. > :19:56.decided that applying for funding from his bank would be fruitless.
:19:56. > :19:59.kept it as lean as possible and not spend any money I did not have to.
:19:59. > :20:04.We work from the kitchen at home rather than splashing out one
:20:04. > :20:07.offices, and the team that worked with me are unpaid on the basis
:20:07. > :20:12.that when it takes off they will get a share of the profits. We have
:20:12. > :20:15.done ever think as clean as possible so we have not had to go
:20:15. > :20:19.to the bank to borrow money. Why did you not to call to the
:20:19. > :20:24.banks to approach funding? I can imagine the groups we would
:20:24. > :20:28.have to jump through. I am almost certain we would have to put our
:20:28. > :20:33.house as security for a business loan. I was not prepared to that,
:20:33. > :20:40.so I dipped into my own savings and creatively made a little bit of
:20:40. > :20:43.money goal long way. This company, like many new
:20:43. > :20:48.entrants into the marketplace, has been self funded and has been
:20:48. > :20:52.successful so far. Looking for James's Business Google, he may
:20:53. > :20:56.need to turn to banks to get vital financing. Many banks have been
:20:56. > :21:00.criticised for their unwillingness to lend to businesses. This
:21:01. > :21:06.prompted the Government to move into an agreement with four new
:21:06. > :21:12.Major at -- four major UK banks, under -- known as Project Merlin.
:21:12. > :21:18.The the agreement, there four banks have to lend �190 billion. So far,
:21:18. > :21:23.it looks like the banks will hit this headline comment. �76 billion
:21:23. > :21:27.has been earmarked for small firms. Here, the picture is not so rosy.
:21:27. > :21:31.According to the Bank of England, lending to small and medium-sized
:21:31. > :21:35.businesses is down this year. The federation of Small businesses says
:21:35. > :21:42.a lack of lending is not the only factor that has impacted on the
:21:42. > :21:45.growth of small firms. The businesses are really
:21:45. > :21:51.struggling to access financing to invest and grow businesses, all
:21:51. > :21:59.thought to cover cashflow. It has also been difficult in terms
:21:59. > :22:03.of volatility in fuel prices and in utility prices, as well. The really
:22:03. > :22:06.since the recession hit, small businesses are still struggling.
:22:06. > :22:13.Apart from lending, what are the other major challengers for small
:22:13. > :22:17.businesses. They are being affected by the high cost of fuel and the
:22:17. > :22:21.lack of stability in prices, and one thing we have asked for a for
:22:21. > :22:24.the Government to introduce a fuel duty stabilised at to make fuel
:22:24. > :22:32.prices more predictable, better financial planning and that kind of
:22:32. > :22:36.thing. The economic environment this year has been difficult, but
:22:36. > :22:40.there are opportunities out there. We have had interest from
:22:40. > :22:44.construction companies who want to use these for corporate social
:22:44. > :22:50.responsibility projects, things like a plant wall within a
:22:51. > :22:55.community. Another area we have had interest from is a company that
:22:55. > :23:02.grows plants that are then sold by retailers, so potentially as a
:23:02. > :23:06.packaged product, so that could be a big outlet into major retailers.
:23:06. > :23:11.He if, like James, you are willing to back yourself and put your plans
:23:11. > :23:18.into action, possibly you too could have a flower in business.
:23:18. > :23:24.That is it for this week and this year. Thank you for your company