Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

DavidGrain · 8 Oct 2019

It is a long time ago now since I was in the M & A business (Mergers and Acquisitions) but in those days, the law was that you could not use a company's money to buy shares. We interpreted that to mean that any takeover had to be financed separately from the assets of the company being taken over so you had to put up cash or your own shares (or a combination of both) to pay for the takeover.We told our clients that they were not to take money out of a company other than dividends out of actual profits for at least a year. That seems to have gone by the board but in those days M & A business was handled by respected merchant banks. Now almost anyone can set up in the M & A business.

RailUK Forums

philjo · 16 Oct 2019

BBC have reported that Jessop's are calling in the administrators.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50066623

Camera chain Jessops plans to call in administrators as its owner, Dragons Den star Peter Jones, tries to salvage the struggling High Street brand.
Mr Jones bought the chain from administrators in 2013 after it collapsed under £81m of debt.
But since then, the firm has not made a single profit and losses have mounted in recent years.
Last year alone, the business reported a £13m loss as rent costs increased to £4.7m.
Lease charges, which include rent on stores, increased from £4.4m in 2017.
Now Mr Jones is reportedly planning to seek a company voluntary agreement (CVA) with its landlords and lenders.
Sky News said the CVA was expected to lead to store closures and rent cuts.
But sources close to Jessops said Mr Jones still saw a future in the business and would not say how many of the chain's 46 stores were at risk of closure.
The chain, which employs about 500 people, is the latest High Street brand to acknowledge tough trading conditions.

ComUtoR · 16 Oct 2019

I have no wish to see any business go under or staff losing their jobs but... Crikey I hate Jessops.

johntea · 16 Oct 2019

Not a massive surprise these days 80% of people will be perfectly happy with the shots their smartphone camera produces, the 20% enthusiasts certainly aren’t shopping in Jessops!

ainsworth74 · 17 Oct 2019

I must admit I always thought it was a touch heroic to try and salvage Jessops when it nearly went down a few years ago!

nlogax · 17 Oct 2019

This thread certainly has a ring of 'people who you thought had died years ago but are somehow still with us'. I've not seen a branch of Jessops in years, it was a surprise to hear that it was still trading.

Howardh · 17 Oct 2019

If Jessops goes, that leaves only three places I can realistically use for my photography requirements
Currys - which I won't touch with a barge pole
Argos - fine but rarely the newest items, always seem 6 months late at least
Mathers - independent little shop, expensive and range as small/dated as Argos; or they will get what you want eventually
So that leave the web and the risk of posted stuff not arriving, when I spend £400+ I want it in my hands!!

Busaholic · 17 Oct 2019

Howardh said:
If Jessops goes, that leaves only three places I can realistically use for my photography requirements
Currys - which I won't touch with a barge pole
Argos - fine but rarely the newest items, always seem 6 months late at least
Mathers - independent little shop, expensive and range as small/dated as Argos; or they will get what you want eventually
So that leave the web and the risk of posted stuff not arriving, when I spend £400+ I want it in my hands!!

The Jessops in Penzance, after a period of closure, was re-opened by an ex-member of staff who's managed to keep it going for several years now, admittedly with virtually no staff. He became known a couple of years ago for conducting a vitriolic war against the local council and 'powers-that-be', with huge photos in his window of parts of the town he blamed them for laying waste to. His campaign ended suddenly: I fear he was 'got at', probably threatened under libel laws.

Cowley · 17 Oct 2019

Busaholic said:
The Jessops in Penzance, after a period of closure, was re-opened by an ex-member of staff who's managed to keep it going for several years now, admittedly with virtually no staff. He became known a couple of years ago for conducting a vitriolic war against the local council and 'powers-that-be', with huge photos in his window of parts of the town he blamed them for laying waste to. His campaign ended suddenly: I fear he was 'got at', probably threatened under libel laws.

It all happens down there doesn’t it!
We’ve still (I’m pretty certain) got a Jessops on Queen Street in Exeter. But then that’s not saying much as we still had an Athena until fairly recently...

Busaholic · 17 Oct 2019

Cowley said:
It all happens down there doesn’t it!.

It keeps some of us amused! End of the line, you see. John le Carre says he can walk round here unobserved, whereas he gets mobbed back at his other home in Hampstead: cos we know who he is, we just pretend we've never heard of him!

ComUtoR · 18 Oct 2019

Bon Marche

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50094937

Bonmarché is the latest retailer to be hit by tough conditions amid growing competition from online retailers and higher operating costs, such as a rising minimum wage and business rates

2,900 jobs

johntea · 19 Oct 2019

Noticed Hays travel haven’t messed around in terms of taking over the old Thomas Cook stores (and hopefully staff), a lot are back open still with the Thomas Cook branding up but several Hays notices in the windows

DavidGrain · 20 Oct 2019

I walked past my local Thomas Cook shop on Friday and no sign of anything happening. Just the notioce on the door. 'This Shop closed with immediate effect'. Presumable all the landlorda have to be contacted and agreed to the take over of the leases.

sprunt · 20 Oct 2019

How does Rymans survive? Loads of shops that never seem to have anyone in, selling stuff you can easily get for half the price they ask. There can't be that many people urgently needing a USB memory stick or some CDRs can there?

DaleCooper · 20 Oct 2019

sprunt said:
How does Rymans survive? Loads of shops that never seem to have anyone in, selling stuff you can easily get for half the price they ask. There can't be that many people urgently needing a USB memory stick or some CDRs can there?

I think the same about WHSmith, my local branch has Waterstones on one side and The Works on the other; surely they don't survive on newspapers and magazines.

michaelh · 20 Oct 2019

Puffing Devil said:
Aldi/Lidl - I love them both. As others have said - Flour is Flour, Sugar is Sugar and the savings can be huge. There are some items that have failed the taste test, though not many. (Weetabix-a-like springs to mind). There are many items that are better or can't be found in traditional supermarkets. I can be in, shopped and out in 20 minutes with a good load.

I make the occasional trip to the bigger stores or use Ocado or Morrisons for deliveries if I need "choice" or bulk items on special offer.

I bought a 1 litre carton of Tomato Juice in Lidl the other day. It was cheaper than Morrison - 59p vs £1, but when I got it home I found that it had more than double the amount of salt than the Morrison's product.

michaelh · 20 Oct 2019

philjo said:
BBC have reported that Jessop's are calling in the administrators.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50066623

Again

bramling · 20 Oct 2019

DaleCooper said:
I think the same about WHSmith, my local branch has Waterstones on one side and The Works on the other; surely they don't survive on newspapers and magazines.

I suspect the WHS business model is based on branches in places like airports, railway stations, service areas and the like, with the high street branches perhaps only surviving based on brand - in that to many they are “the place” for things like kitting kids out with school stationery, et cetera. I’m surprised anyone buys their overpriced confectionary, but evidently people do - perhaps the idea is people will be tempted when they go in for a newspaper or whatever. Whether this is sustainable will depend on whether this brand loyalty persists with younger people who may well not have grown up with Smith’s being such a household brand.

As for Ryman’s, to be fair their stuff is generally quite decent quality. I’m certainly happy to pay a bit more for a binder that’s not going to fall apart after a few weeks use.

johntea · 20 Oct 2019

WHSmith won't be going anywhere soon considering a lot of Post Offices are now ending up in them!

DaleCooper · 20 Oct 2019

johntea said:
WHSmith won't be going anywhere soon considering a lot of Post Offices are now ending up in them!

The Post Offices can easily relocate if necessary.

smsm1 · 20 Oct 2019

michaelh said:
Again

No wonder if the quality of some 35 mm photo film processing I got done at Jessops is anything to go by a couple of years ago. Staff seemed disinterested. Any that I've had done a SnappySnaps were far better quality. Even at one point saying that they wouldn't process it as their machine wasn't in optimal condition and they were waiting on an engineer to service it. Staff fare more interested in what I was doing and helpful, even if a little more expensive.

Kite159 · 20 Oct 2019

DaleCooper said:
I think the same about WHSmith, my local branch has Waterstones on one side and The Works on the other; surely they don't survive on newspapers and magazines.

They also survive on selling bottles of pop/water at airports/stations with large mark-ups and £4.99 meal deals

Busaholic · 20 Oct 2019

DaleCooper said:
The Post Offices can easily relocate if necessary.

Not true - WH Smith have very lucrative long-term contracts with the Post Office. The space vacated by Smith's in my local branch, now occupied by the P.O., ensures the branch's survival, according to the manager. Both the retail shop and the P.O. operate with minimal staff and use of so-called self-service machines which should be labelled as self-non-service machines to comply with the Trades Description Act!

michaelh · 20 Oct 2019

Busaholic said:
Not true - WH Smith have very lucrative long-term contracts with the Post Office. The space vacated by Smith's in my local branch, now occupied by the P.O., ensures the branch's survival, according to the manager. Both the retail shop and the P.O. operate with minimal staff and use of so-called self-service machines which should be labelled as self-non-service machines to comply with the Trades Description Act!

My local branch (which does not have a PO) is always pretty much deserted save for one or two men (always men) browsing railway/car/photography etc magazines. There are two doors at opposite ends of the shop but only one member of staff who is located at the front door- the shoplifting losses must be astronomical. Those who want stationery, paperbacks etc go to The Works which is a few yards away and much cheaper.

DaleCooper · 20 Oct 2019

Busaholic said:
Not true - WH Smith have very lucrative long-term contracts with the Post Office. The space vacated by Smith's in my local branch, now occupied by the P.O., ensures the branch's survival, according to the manager. Both the retail shop and the P.O. operate with minimal staff and use of so-called self-service machines which should be labelled as self-non-service machines to comply with the Trades Description Act!

I obviously didn't make myself clear:

The Post Offices can easily relocate if necessary due to WHSmith going down the pan. If it is the Post Office contracts that are keeping the branches open then what's the point of the rest of the shop. I'm sure M&S would be happy to take on the PO business.

TubeMapCentral · 21 Oct 2019

Post Offices also in Co-Ops, another losing chain.

Why does the Post Office choose the most dismal nasty shops to locate its counters?

DaleCooper · 21 Oct 2019

TubeMapCentral said:
Post Offices also in Co-Ops, another losing chain.

Why does the Post Office choose the most dismal nasty shops to locate its counters?

They probably get the best deal from shops that are desperate.

telstarbox · 21 Oct 2019

The Co-ops I've seen recently have improved a lot from a few years ago - both the products and the store environment.

nlogax · 21 Oct 2019

TubeMapCentral said:
Post Offices also in Co-Ops, another losing chain.

Why does the Post Office choose the most dismal nasty shops to locate its counters?

Wrong on all accounts. Co-Op food stores are doing very nicely. There's been serious investment in those stores and it's paying off.

TubeMapCentral · 21 Oct 2019

nlogax said:
Wrong on all accounts. Co-Op food stores are doing very nicely. There's been serious investment in those stores and it's paying off.

A 214 Page annual report with no comparisons with other chains? Are you serious? I bet Co-op bank annual reports were equally glowing before it crashed.

Individual co-op branches seem to do well by themselves, but as soon as serious competition moves in, their customers desert them. Now that Aldi and M&S have moved into Walton-on-the-Naze, the nasty little Co-op is more or less empty most of the time, good riddance to it, but I'm not sure where the Post Office counter will go.

The co-op purchase of Summerfield stores must be the single biggest piece of value-destruction in the history of British supermarkets.

Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

Established Member

RailUK Forums

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Forum Staff

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Forum Staff

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member