:00:03. > :00:13.Afghanistan last week. More on all those stories at the
:00:13. > :00:32.
:00:32. > :00:37.top of the hour. Now it is time for This is your weekly guide to who is
:00:37. > :00:41.making the cash. With us tonight, Richard Lewis, who runs the company
:00:41. > :00:48.behind best western hotels. Joanne Seniors speaks for the shareholders
:00:48. > :00:53.in Britain's biggest companies, and the man who was saved by a doughnut,
:00:53. > :01:00.the riches to ration and back to riches again story Gary Frank. The
:01:00. > :01:04.sun has been shining in some places. It looks like there are signs of
:01:04. > :01:14.regrowth in business. Confidence is reviving. Order books are filling
:01:14. > :01:18.
:01:18. > :01:23.up. The only way is up. It looks like the economy will have
:01:23. > :01:26.returned to growth in the first quarter of the year. We slip back
:01:26. > :01:32.into retraction in the final quarter last year. These numbers
:01:32. > :01:37.are suggesting we we won't fall back into recession, though the
:01:37. > :01:41.situation remains fragile. Our plan is to create 20,000 new
:01:41. > :01:45.jobs in the UK over the next two years. Combination of new stores
:01:45. > :01:52.that we are opening but also putting more staff into our
:01:52. > :01:56.existing stores to give better service for customers. A couple of
:01:56. > :02:04.years ago we were making 35 of these gas turbines a year. This
:02:04. > :02:08.year we are going to make 81. Next year we are looking at making 100.
:02:08. > :02:18.That's going worldwide, so we are exporting to India, South America,
:02:18. > :02:21.
:02:21. > :02:27.Australia. How does business look to you at the moment, is it
:02:27. > :02:32.encouraging? We have been growing consistently since 2008 when things
:02:32. > :02:36.went pear-shaped. I have to say we have grown 25% in that time. People
:02:36. > :02:40.are still treating themselves to small treats during the day.
:02:40. > :02:45.are still investing? We are still investing heavily in the business.
:02:45. > :02:49.We have spent �3 million on a completely new automated packing
:02:49. > :02:53.and wrapping line. And creating jobs as well? Creating jobs as well.
:02:53. > :02:58.What we are trying to do is move away from the more mundane jobs,
:02:58. > :03:02.which we can automate and giving people a chance to do creative
:03:02. > :03:07.stuff. We have a report from the Federation of Small Businesses,
:03:07. > :03:12.which is expected to say tomorrow that confidence in smaller firms
:03:12. > :03:16.has improved for the first time in a year. You run a representive body
:03:16. > :03:20.but it is like a small business. Are you feeling confident where
:03:20. > :03:23.about where we are? We are feeling confident more generally. We are
:03:23. > :03:27.starting to see confidence come back. But for investor, I don't
:03:27. > :03:32.know about the business, but for the investment seningtor, we are
:03:32. > :03:35.still seeing very tough times, with volatile markets and poor
:03:35. > :03:40.investment returns. For us as investors, it is a pretty tough
:03:40. > :03:46.time. How can you change that, so the people who invest in businesses
:03:46. > :03:56.become as cheerful as the people running the businesses? I think
:03:56. > :03:59.
:03:59. > :04:03.what we need to see is a period of sustained growth in the economy.
:04:03. > :04:07.The hotel business is a very sensitive barometer to how people
:04:07. > :04:11.are feeling about the economy and money. How is it looking to you?
:04:11. > :04:16.is looking patchy in places. Certainly in London, which is an
:04:16. > :04:22.island for the hotel industry, last year was good. This year is looking
:04:22. > :04:25.a little bit uncertain I must say. In August it is going to look
:04:25. > :04:29.extremely positive with the Olympics but apart from that we
:04:29. > :04:36.will have a small growth. Business for us is very strong, business
:04:36. > :04:41.last year was 18.9% up and we are driving the business in hotels.
:04:41. > :04:44.What does that mean for investment. Gary is talking about the
:04:44. > :04:49.investment in new technology and jobs, are you doing something
:04:49. > :04:52.similar? We are investing in our business and our people. We have
:04:52. > :04:57.taken on a learning and development manager. We are looking to invest
:04:57. > :05:00.in our business. Hotels would like to do the same, many are, but there
:05:00. > :05:04.would be help from the Government in this budget which would support
:05:04. > :05:08.them. That brings me to the budget. What do you want to see?
:05:08. > :05:13.reduction in VAT, certainly VAT in this country for the hospitality
:05:13. > :05:20.industry is a little higher than in some of our European counterparts,
:05:21. > :05:24.we are at 20%, France is at 5%, we would love to see a reduction.
:05:24. > :05:29.Corporation tax, we believe there is going to be a 1% drop. That is
:05:29. > :05:34.going to be good news. Two cuts in tax, he wants, do you want
:05:34. > :05:39.something else? Corporation tax is always a nice thing but if it can
:05:39. > :05:44.be focused on businesses that are employing people, labour-intensive
:05:44. > :05:49.businesses, that is going to help employment and help people get jobs.
:05:49. > :05:53.What happens if the Chancellor says I will cut tax for business and
:05:53. > :05:56.create these jobs but to pay for it I am going to take away that very
:05:57. > :06:01.generous tax break that the very wealthy get when they put money in
:06:01. > :06:04.their pensions? That would be a very short-sighted measure on the
:06:04. > :06:10.part of the chancellor. Already the Chancellor's cut very significantly
:06:11. > :06:15.the tax breaks available to pensions. That's netted the
:06:15. > :06:23.Treasury �4.5 billion a year. We need to see people being encouraged
:06:23. > :06:29.to save and a tax cut, actually impacts people way down the income
:06:29. > :06:34.scale. Time for boom or bust, a quick look at some of the news this
:06:34. > :06:40.week. Have you had a cup cake emergency, craved some icing when
:06:40. > :06:47.the shops are closed? The owners of this bakery in Los Angeles have an
:06:47. > :06:54.out of hours cup cake vending machine. Swipe your credit card,
:06:54. > :07:03.out pops the bun of your choice. This is how I relax after work!
:07:03. > :07:13.It is the USA yoga championships. They are judged on a number of
:07:13. > :07:14.
:07:14. > :07:20.things. Is this the employee of the future.
:07:21. > :07:25.This attracts thousands of fans to the concerts, never gets it wrong
:07:25. > :07:31.when singing. Problem is she doesn't actually really exist. She
:07:31. > :07:40.is computer generated. All music and lyrics are written by the fans.
:07:40. > :07:46.10,000 tickets sold out within minutes.
:07:46. > :07:55.As a maker of cup cakes, when you saw the cup cake vending machine,
:07:55. > :07:59.did a little bit of you die on the inside? I have to say, we obsess
:07:59. > :08:06.about invasion -- innovation, when I saw this, I wish I had thought of
:08:06. > :08:10.that. Are you not worried about the cup cakes coming out dry, stale?
:08:10. > :08:14.There are issues that need to be addressed, but this is just the
:08:14. > :08:20.sort of out of the box or out of the vending machine thinking that
:08:20. > :08:29.we bring to our business, which as a small business you really need.
:08:29. > :08:37.Just a great idea. Which customers expect a cup cake 24 powers a day?
:08:37. > :08:41.It is a brilliant idea. Just that point when the shops are shut and
:08:41. > :08:46.you want a sweet treat, a vending machine would be brilliant. This is
:08:46. > :08:55.the innovation you would applaud in bris? Absolutely. Are you going to
:08:55. > :09:04.put them in your lobby? I am talk to go Gary about... Never mind
:09:04. > :09:10.about giving him business. We are not a great lover of vending
:09:10. > :09:17.machines. There are other hotel chains that have vending machines
:09:17. > :09:22.in their foyer dispensing snacks and drinks or a full breakfast
:09:22. > :09:28.service. Is there a pay off between customer expectations of the hotel
:09:28. > :09:34.and a cost efficient way of delivering a service of some sort.
:09:34. > :09:39.There is, without doubt some of the hotels do have vending machines. We
:09:39. > :09:45.don't manage the hotels at best western. We allow them to do what
:09:45. > :09:48.is best for the business. If you are checking into a hotel and saw a
:09:48. > :09:53.vending machine as the dispenser for breakfast, would you check out
:09:54. > :09:58.again? I am not sure if a vending machine for breakfast is a good
:09:58. > :10:05.idea, but vending something that is a commodity perhaps, but it depends
:10:05. > :10:09.on the hotel. Yoga. Do you practice it? I am not very flexible in body,
:10:09. > :10:13.very flexible in business and flexible in mind. This is essential
:10:13. > :10:17.to keep at the top in business? have to be flexible. We have to
:10:17. > :10:24.look at new ideas. If we continue doing what we have always done, we
:10:24. > :10:28.will always get what we have always got. We must be flexible. Yoga in
:10:29. > :10:34.personal life or flexibility in business? I have done it in the
:10:34. > :10:37.past, not now. I think certainly in terms of business and for us as a
:10:37. > :10:42.lobbying organisation, how we deal with the Government, what we would
:10:42. > :10:50.like to see is flexible thinking on the part of the Government.
:10:50. > :10:56.Government yoga classes! You were talking about investing in new
:10:56. > :11:01.technology, put me in mind of the digital diva, can any job be
:11:01. > :11:08.replaced by a robot with technological advance? What we have
:11:08. > :11:10.tried to do is concentrate our investment on taking costs out of
:11:10. > :11:15.the business but replacing the jobs which aren't the most interesting
:11:15. > :11:19.or exciting jobs to do. There is a saving to us as a business and it
:11:19. > :11:23.means that we can get our people focused on doing the more
:11:23. > :11:30.interesting, creative and really the more dynamic stuff. Best use of
:11:30. > :11:35.their time. Yes. Cup cakes made by robots. Not keen on that. I like
:11:35. > :11:45.the idea of hand made cup cakes. Automating those bits that can be
:11:45. > :11:47.
:11:47. > :11:52.automated but keeping the quality. This is true of the hotel industry,
:11:52. > :11:56.there is some automation that can be done, but in a business like
:11:56. > :12:00.yours that relies on the face-to- face contact, the greeting, the
:12:00. > :12:07.welcome, there is a lot you can't automate. Absolutely. There is very
:12:07. > :12:14.little you can automate within a hotel. What we focus on is the the
:12:14. > :12:18.customer experience. It is more about actually providing
:12:18. > :12:21.personalised service. That is what the hotel can do very well. It is
:12:21. > :12:26.about everybody being different, the hotels are very different. We
:12:26. > :12:33.have some which are contemporary, some castles, some managess. We
:12:33. > :12:37.have the oldest hotel in Europe, built in 1220, not many people can
:12:37. > :12:41.say they have that type of hotel within their group. We have
:12:41. > :12:44.personality and that is what we focus on, the service is key.
:12:44. > :12:49.Chief Executive of best western, you don't run the individual hotels,
:12:49. > :12:55.you provide the marketing support, the reservation support as well. It
:12:55. > :12:58.means the brand name is very important. How can you control the
:12:58. > :13:02.standard of hotels with your name on the door, when you don't
:13:02. > :13:06.actually run the hotel? It is a great question. We work very hard
:13:06. > :13:10.on that. We have to continually move the quality of our hotels
:13:10. > :13:16.every year and we do so by taking our guests view of their stay in
:13:16. > :13:22.the properties through something called medallions reports and they
:13:22. > :13:31.say how they found the hotel. We have our own guest room and public
:13:31. > :13:35.area review and that is fairly fairly strict. You give the hotels
:13:35. > :13:39.advance notice you are coming to check them. Our view is the hotels,
:13:39. > :13:43.we want to work with them, we don't want to catch them out, we want to
:13:43. > :13:48.work with them. The bottom line is we are trying to provide a better
:13:48. > :13:53.service to guests, not trick the hoteliers. But it is about getting
:13:53. > :13:59.the same experience that you would that you would get if you were an
:13:59. > :14:03.actual guest. I couldn't agree with you more. It is about consistency
:14:03. > :14:07.and that is what we are aiming to do. Not about getting ready for us,
:14:07. > :14:10.but getting ready for the paying guest. Do you think customers are
:14:10. > :14:19.too demanding for the money they are charged? I think there is a
:14:19. > :14:22.variety of guests who come into any hotel, whether it be marred rin
:14:22. > :14:27.oriental, with the best western we have great guests coming in and
:14:27. > :14:31.some are obviously... Some are a real chore. I wouldn't say they are
:14:31. > :14:36.a chore. People want different things from their stay at a hotel
:14:36. > :14:41.and it is up to us to meet those needs. Is it appropriate to say to
:14:41. > :14:46.a guest, shut up, for the amount of money you pay for this room, you
:14:46. > :14:56.have a good service. If you want something better go to another
:14:56. > :14:57.
:14:57. > :15:00.hotel. I wouldn't word it like that. It is a difficult situation. We
:15:00. > :15:05.have obviously our business is very human related and we are dealing
:15:06. > :15:12.with guests who have an opinion. When you read reviews on sites like
:15:12. > :15:17.trip advisor from a cranky overbearing demanding guest, how do
:15:17. > :15:22.you deal with those? We have taken a very courageous decision to take
:15:22. > :15:27.the last five trip advisor reviews on our own site. So a guest look
:15:27. > :15:32.can at a best western hotel doesn't have to leave that site in order to
:15:32. > :15:37.go to the trip advise advisor site to read what is what is being said
:15:37. > :15:41.about our hotel. We are being very honest and open about the views of
:15:41. > :15:46.our property. There aren't many businesses that are that open and
:15:46. > :15:53.honest. That was a very tactful dodge of the question. I speak to
:15:53. > :15:58.other hoteliers and they say privately they have been -- they
:15:58. > :16:01.really dislike sites like trip advisor because they are open to
:16:01. > :16:06.manipulation to people who are vengeful after a bad experience.
:16:06. > :16:11.There are always people after the hospitality industry, after all
:16:11. > :16:16.everybody has an opinion about food and about accommodation. We are an
:16:16. > :16:19.easy target. But on the vast majority of the reviews, we as
:16:19. > :16:23.hospitality operators, we believe they are genuinely quite fair.
:16:23. > :16:27.There are obviously a number of bogus reviews and we need to stamp
:16:27. > :16:34.those out. We are working very closely with trip advisor as a
:16:34. > :16:37.partner in order to stamp out those bogus reviews. The answer is...
:16:37. > :16:43.those reviews including reviews that are encouraged by the owners
:16:43. > :16:47.of the hotels who might offer inducement to someone to write a
:16:47. > :16:51.good review. If they are induced and that means they are given some
:16:52. > :16:56.reward for doing that, trip advisor has very strict rules about that.
:16:56. > :17:00.Therefore, we never encourage people by inducement, but if you
:17:00. > :17:05.have had a great stay we may well ask you if you would like to go on
:17:05. > :17:08.to trip advisor and make a review we would be delighted, but no
:17:08. > :17:13.inducement is ever offered. scheme to get more cash flowing
:17:13. > :17:16.from banks to to small bigss may get under way this week. It is
:17:16. > :17:21.called credit easy. The banks will will lend the money and government
:17:21. > :17:27.will guarantee to pay some back if the borrower can't. Shouldn't the
:17:27. > :17:32.banks be doing this any way? Clearly that is part of the project
:17:32. > :17:37.learning deal, that was agreed last year, but we haven't seen enough of
:17:37. > :17:40.that. It is genuinely difficult for banks to really be able to lend and
:17:40. > :17:46.to be able to assess which are going to be the right businesses
:17:46. > :17:51.they should be lending to. We hope it will start to get small business
:17:51. > :17:55.moving. The Chancellor says he sees small business as being the engine
:17:55. > :17:59.of the economic growth. We need that government support for small
:17:59. > :18:04.business through this difficult time. The criticism is, the bank's
:18:04. > :18:08.assessment of risk or otherwise, the banks are too busy spending the
:18:08. > :18:15.money giving themselves businesses and there isn't enough left in the
:18:15. > :18:22.pot to give to small businesses. shareholders would say you need to
:18:22. > :18:30.be paying out dividend to shareholders and also exercising
:18:30. > :18:36.restraint on executive pay. If the banks don't step up to the plate,
:18:36. > :18:40.they have a political risk, Vince Cable writing letters saying the
:18:40. > :18:45.RBS should be broken up and a specialist small business bank
:18:45. > :18:55.should be carved out of it. banks recognise there is that
:18:55. > :18:55.
:18:55. > :19:00.political imperative on them to sort this out. The banks have a
:19:00. > :19:07.reason to get their house in order and we as shareholders would be
:19:07. > :19:17.pushing them tho do that. Do you think Vince Cable has a point?
:19:17. > :19:25.
:19:25. > :19:29.I do think so. This is very relevant and I looked at my own
:19:29. > :19:36.experience and when I started my business over 20 years ago I was
:19:36. > :19:40.unemployed, I didn't have a penny to my name, no security, I had
:19:40. > :19:44.nothing I could offer. I knew I needed �30,000 to get my business
:19:44. > :19:50.off the the ground. I was able to borrow half from frenz and family
:19:50. > :19:54.and go to my local bank to say I have a great idea, I have some
:19:54. > :19:57.money, will you lend me the rest, I can't give you security but it is
:19:57. > :20:02.going to work. The bank manager said yes that is fine. I don't
:20:02. > :20:06.think today I would get that same reaction and then my business
:20:06. > :20:10.wouldn't have got gotten off the ground. There could be lots of
:20:10. > :20:14.other small businesses that could have been turfed off. The banks
:20:14. > :20:20.have to ask themselves what they are in business to do. That riches
:20:20. > :20:25.to rags and riches again, tell me the story. The initial riches to
:20:25. > :20:30.rags was when I first went into business I was trading in New York
:20:30. > :20:36.and Wall Street and built up a small amount which I lost overnight
:20:36. > :20:42.when there was a big crash. Then I started my new business in 1989. We
:20:42. > :20:48.turned into the fabulous baking boys in 1997. Now we turn over �20
:20:48. > :20:56.million. I employ about 150 people which is very satisfying. It is so
:20:56. > :21:06.much more interesting to make stuff than to trade money on the markets.
:21:06. > :21:11.Thank you very much. Young people today, some day they will take our
:21:11. > :21:21.jobs. As part of the BBC school report here is a report on why you
:21:21. > :21:25.
:21:25. > :21:30.don't see so many children their age doing the paper round any more.
:21:30. > :21:37.Is The generations, children have been a vital part of the economy.
:21:37. > :21:40.We went to meet a 90-year-old to find out about her first job.
:21:40. > :21:45.first job was working in a cardboard factory. How old were you
:21:45. > :21:51.when you went there? 13. We were hungry, we had no shoes. It was
:21:51. > :21:58.hard. I would hate those days to come back for anybody. I wouldn't
:21:58. > :22:02.like to see youngsters having to work like I had to work. It was
:22:02. > :22:09.dreadful. I didn't want to go to work of the I wanted to stay on at
:22:09. > :22:13.school, but I had a stepfather who said no, I had to go to work.
:22:13. > :22:18.until three weeks ago 15-year-old Katie made �12 a week on her paper
:22:18. > :22:22.round. I got a letter saying that I had two more weeks remaining and
:22:22. > :22:27.then my services were no longer needed. Do you think this reflects
:22:27. > :22:36.what is happening all over the country? It is getting harder. The
:22:36. > :22:41.only two jobs available for kids my age are delivering mainers and --
:22:41. > :22:51.papers and leaflets, and neither are easy to get. This is important
:22:51. > :22:56.
:22:56. > :22:59.to my age group, because not getting a job now is vital for CVs.
:22:59. > :23:09.Students find it difficult in the future to adjust to the working
:23:09. > :23:09.
:23:09. > :23:13.world and getting the feel of a work day. As a careers coordinator
:23:13. > :23:17.for the school how do you feel about the cuts in funding to the
:23:17. > :23:22.work experience programme. I am very disappointed because it has a
:23:22. > :23:28.big impact on our students. The students that do work experience in
:23:28. > :23:30.year ten, they gain a lot from it, they gain in confidence, develop
:23:30. > :23:35.communication skills, they recognise the transferable skills
:23:35. > :23:42.they are learning in school, and all of those things will be missed
:23:42. > :23:47.out on. And it does have a big knock on impact for future life as
:23:47. > :23:52.well, because students don't get the experience of work either.
:23:52. > :23:57.Certainly not in our town. Jobs are becoming fewer and fewer. What
:23:57. > :24:00.impact will it have on the younger students? Sther going to miss out.
:24:00. > :24:05.They aren't going to gain the experiences that maybe you had as
:24:05. > :24:10.being one of the last lot that went through our work experience
:24:10. > :24:16.programme. They aren't going to get the experience of work. They are
:24:16. > :24:20.going to struggle later on with just some of the of the basics of